Weapons Pointed at the Enemy - Redux
by Veraduxxz
Summary: After the fall of Beacon, Ruby and Jaune are offered to join Atlas. Doing so, they trained to become what they've always wanted. Heroes to protect those who can't protect themselves. Functioning as specialists to Atlas, they're sent to Vale for a mission. Returning to Vale however means facing their past after having left it all behind. Will they be able to face their inner demons?
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

**Welcome to the new Weapons Pointed at the Enemy. If you have not yet finished Volume 3 of RWBY I recommend you to do so before you continue reading. The fanfic picks up after Episode 12, so after you have seen the episode are you 'safe' to continue ahead. Without further ado, I give you:**

 **Weapons Pointed at The Enemy**

* * *

A frigid wind blew through the forest, dusting the snow from the trees. Ruby pulled in her cloak closer and her hood tighter, shielding herself from the biting cold. Winters in Atlas were always cold, the northern position of the continent enhancing it even further. Making her way quickly through forest to get to the mission site.

 _I wonder what the weather in Vale is like_. Ruby pondered, her mind reminiscing simpler times. A crackle from the earpiece rudely pulled her back to reality before her mind could wander.

"Ruby, you should be coming up on the Grimm disturbance now. Remember, it's supposed to be only a few. So try to keep it low profile!" the cheery voice spoke. Ten years ago, at the Vytal tournament, Penny had technically been killed. But her consciousness remained. After a long process, they were finally able to reclaim it. Now Atlas used her as an AI operative, helping their 'specialists' during missions.

"Alright, Penny." Ruby replied, a small smile on her lips. She was glad to have Penny along. After all, she was nearly the only friend she had left. Only Jaune had stayed after their long journey to Mistral. Nora and Ren had left for Vale, wanting to help efforts in freeing Beacon of the Grimm. Ruby presumed they had stayed there. Jaune had been her partner in crime, or rather military, after that.

As Ruby came up to the clearing in the forest, she could already see the beowolves gathering. She snickered to herself. _Ten years ago.._ She mentally said to herself. Grabbing and unfolding Crescent Rose, she cracked her neck to ready herself for the fun to be had.

Crescent Rose had gotten a significant upgrade in the years since she joined up with Atlas. Using her position as a specialist, she had gotten many rare materials for it. As such, the weapon had evolved along with her. It boasted a far larger blade, extending her reach. The sniper fitted within had gotten overhauled, boasting a larger range and larger capacity as well. But because of the materials the weight of it had not changed, although Ruby swore it was even lighter than before.

As soon as Crescent Rose was fully unfolded, the beowolves turned to look at the approaching huntress cloaked fully by the blood red cloak. A large alpha beowolf stepped out from the small pack, growling at Ruby. With a large swing, she hammered Crescent Rose down and quickly shot at it. It howled in pain as the large bullet collided with it's facemask, the bullet deflecting after making a large crackle in it. Almost as a signal, the other beowolves attacked in unison. Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose out of the ground, a confident smirk on her lips. Readying herself, she awaited the first swipe from the lead beowulf.

As it swiped at her, she dodged and skillfully lopped it's head off. With nearly no effort, the second beowulf suffered the same fate. Quickly firing a shot, she managed to down another before it got close to her. Ruby held her defensive position, opting to attack only when attacked. Grimm were simple enemies and their stupidity easily abusable in a fight. Without much effort, she was able to weed out most of the beowolves before the Alpha roared again. It charged at her recklessly, rage overcoming the beast. Ruby swung at it with Crescent Rose, the blade lodging deeply in it's neck, shattering some of the bone on it's shoulders. It stared her down with a growl before Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose's blade and decapitated the Alpha. Slowly, it faded. Three straggler beowolves were left, Ruby opting to shoot them rather than chase them. As their bodies faded from existence as well, she pressed her finger to the earpiece to activate it again.

"Penny, I think I've taken care of all the Grimm. Can you check that for me, Please?" Ruby asked her friend.

"Ofcourse Ruby!" A chipper voice responded, "That seems to be all of them, Splendid Ruby! You should come back to base however. I believe General Ironwood wanted to speak to you." she trailed off, the last words sounding quite concerned. Ruby wondered why.

* * *

As Ruby walked into the hidden Atlas base, she found it to be more lively than usual. Scientists, engineers and general workmen were rushing quickly to get to their destinations and seemed working harder than usual. Ruby raised a curious eyebrow at them as she made her way to her room. As she came up to it, she pulled out the card to her room, swiping it through the slot. The door unlocked and she stepped inside quickly and closed the door. She hummed to herself as she leaned with her back against the door and looked over her room. It was simple. A bed, a desk, some drawers, a locker for her weapon and a bathroom with a shower. Only the necessities. It was Atlas after all.

Ruby placed Crescent Rose inside of the locker and made her way over to the desk. Wiping away the mess she had made of it, she took a small round device and pressed one of the buttons on the side. A hologram of Penny showed up on the surface of the disk and she placed it down on the desk and took off her hood.

"So.. Any idea why Ironwood wants to talk to me, Penny?" she asked her friend as she combed her hand through her hair. It had become longer throughout the years, although she didn't let it go past her shoulders. When she first had it cut again, Jaune was insisting her to at least try longer hair. It had taken her a while, but she liked the look of it. She was no longer a little girl and the haircut made her feel more confident in that as well.

"Uhhh… No idea!" her friend started, trying to sound as innocent as possible. Ruby still found it interesting that all of the human traits Penny had were pretty much exaggerated. In this case, all the signs of lying to her.

"Penny, you're my friend. You don't have to keep secrets for me. You know I don't tell anyone." Ruby spoke sweetly and with an innocent smile. "Please?" Ruby quickly added.

"Oh. Alright. Something happened in Vale and General Ironwood wants to send you and Jaune to investigate it." she spoke. Ruby's eyes widened.

 _Vale.. Am.. I able?_ She thought. _It's been a long time.. And what of Jaune? Can he even go there after what happened?_

"Ruby? Ruby? Hello? Remnant to Ruby?" Penny said, waving her hand to try and get some attention from the shocked woman. Ruby shook her head as she returned to reality from her thoughts again and let go of the lip she was unconsciously biting.

"Sorry Penny. I just, drifted into thought for a moment." Ruby spoke, faking a small smile towards her friend. Penny didn't seem to notice and continued.

"Anyway, I don't really know many more specifics on the mission. Only that it'll be in Vale. Oh! General Ironwood wants to see you right now, actually!" Penny spoke, flashing a large grin at the last of her words.

Ruby groaned audibly as she fell on her back on the bed. She hadn't even gotten a chance to catch her breath after her mission. A short knock on her door made her groan again, although she answered. "Come in, Jaune."

"I .. can't really do that without you opening the door, Ruby." he said, chuckling. Leaning towards the door from her bed, she pulled on the doorknob and fell over again. As Jaune entered the room he closed the door gently behind him. "Oh, Hello Penny." he said, spotting the hologram on her desk.

"Salutations!" she responded, waving at him.

Ruby responded to him muffled by her cloak, before rolling back on her back with a soft sigh.

"So.." Jaune started, grabbing the chair from her desk and sitting down. "Your thingy went well?" He spoke sincerely, although a hint of amusement in his voice at the state of his friend.

Ruby merely groaned before propping herself up on her elbows. "Ironwood wants to see us." she said, looking at him with her hair slightly disheveled from her previous actions.

"Well. He kind of needs to, we're specialists. We have to go to the briefings." Jaune responded casually, grabbing a small gadget from Ruby's desk.

"No. Jaune. I don't mean a briefing kind of deal. He needs to see specifically us." Ruby said, a more serious look in her eyes.

"Oh." Jaune responded, his tone lower than before. Leaning a little back in the chair, he tilted his head towards the ceiling of the small room. "What about?" he continued, levelling his gaze at Ruby again.

Ruby held her tongue, only looking at him, fighting her inner conflict at breaking the news to him. An uncomfortable silence passed between them before the door to Ruby's room opened and the general himself stepped in. Instantly Ruby and Jaune stood up to try and salute, but were quickly stopped by Ironwood's waving hand. "There's no need for that now. Penny told me you two were here. She opened the door." he spoke with a gentle tone and turned towards Ruby.

"Undoubtedly, Penny has already told you why I needed you two." he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Penny eeped at the mention of her name and disappeared from the hologram. A soft chuckle left James' lips in response. Ruby nodded at him, shooting a quick glance at Jaune beside her.

"He doesn't know yet, however." she said. Jaune stood there looking confused at the both of them. With a heavy sigh, Ironwood motioned for the both of them to sit down. Ruby plopped down on the bed again with a little bounce and Jaune sat down in the chair. Ironwood placed his hands on his back.

"Jaune. There have been unusual Grimm and White Fang disturbances in Vale. We're sending you and Ruby to investigate. Since both of you are fully fledged specialists now, we're sending you without aid. So this will be your first official specialist mission." Ironwood spoke, keeping his back straight. His eyes betrayed him however, shooting the blonde a look of worry. Jaune's reason for joining Atlas was because of what happened at Beacon and James knew this very clearly.

Jaune's breath hitched in his throat. Memories came flooding back and his hands balled to fists, so hard that they became white. Ruby grabbed his hand and squeezed it, trying to comfort him. The clenching didn't stop however.

"Jaune?" Ruby asked, her voice gentle as could be. She was afraid he'd take it this hard. Ruby had always felt guilty at not being able to save Pyrrha. It was one of the reasons why she'd become quite close with Jaune. When they were still at Beacon they had been great friends from the first day onward. Both being leaders of their respective teams, they shared tips and tricks that they had learned and tried to improve themselves.

It wasn't until after Pyrrha was… gone, that she started understanding how close they really were. After Ren and Nora left, Ironwood offered Ruby a place in Atlas. Her skills were admirable, but she couldn't do it alone. With Weiss gone, Blake missing and Yang still coping with her lost arm, she asked Jaune to come with her. He agreed, making an off remark on having nothing better to do. It had taken a while for them to process through everything that had happened and move on to continue their training as Hunter and Huntress. They shared the same goals, to become a hero to protect those who cannot protect themselves. It was through this connection that she found herself grow closer to him. As a partner would in the teams the schools often set up.

Jaune knew it was his duty now, as a Hunter, to help those in need. Vale however was a different challenge. He had faced many opponents in the years since joining Atlas. But this was different. He would have to face himself and his memories. Already his eyes stung from tears being formed. Jaune quickly wiped the tears away with the sleeve of his still iconic hoodie, causing Ruby to take back the hand she put on his. He nodded slowly at Ironwood. His voice stammered as he spoke. "W-when do we l-leave?".

"As soon as you two are ready. There's an airship ready to drop you two off. It'll be quite a way, so you'll have time to rest on the ship. But make sure you are mentally ready to go before you board." Ironwood spoke, his eyes still showing the same empathy he showed earlier. "I can only imagine how hard this must be for you two. Take some time to process this. Penny will have all the details for you two when you're on the ship." He nodded his head at the both of them before turning around and leaving the room, leaving the Hunter and Huntress speechless in his wake.

A moment passed, the both of them processing through their memories. Ruby had found peace with most of what happened. Maybe she could try and visit Yang at Patch, to see how she had been doing. Ruby had sent letters to her, but received none. She persisted though, never quite one to back down and sent her a letter every week. Even make careful note of Yang's birthday to send her something special along the way.

Jaune only remembered one thing specifically. Pyrrha. She remained in his mind everyday, making sure that the sacrifice she had made would never be in vain. Pyrrha had believed in him like no one else had before and the rest of his team and later his friends backed him up in that regard. Jaune kept up this believe for himself, working hard at everything he did to make sure he did everything he could to do it as well as he could.

"Hey. Maybe this isn't all that bad. We could see our old friends again." Ruby said, half-jokingly, trying to break the awkward silence. Jaune looked at her, cracking a small smile through depressed eyes. "I guess so." he responded, "See what Ren and Nora have been up to. Maybe look at the town a little.".

Ruby patted on the empty spot beside her on the bed, signalling for Jaune to come sit next to her. Jaune stood from the chair and plopped down beside Ruby, leaning his head on her shoulder. "It's going to suck, ain't it?" he said, sighing softly.

"We've ran from the past for so long.. Best we finally face it." Ruby said, before gently leaning her head against Jaune's.


	2. Chapter 2: Regrets

**Wow. I have absolutely no words for all the support you guys have shown for this story. I hadn't posted the story anywhere and I woke up the next morning looking at this: bit (period) ly (dash) 1QnydQQ (Fixed the link, it's a bit ly linking to an imgur picture)**

 **I wish I could find the words to say how humbled I feel. This has been one of the best things I have ever woken up to. I'm glad so many of you are interested in the story.**

 **I know I have a lot of improvement and growth to make as a writer. I am not scared for this but want to embrace it. Maybe when I am reaching later chapters I will look at the older chapters and retouch them as my writing (hopefully) improves. But for now, I give you the second chapter to Weapons Pointed at the Enemy!**

Stepping onto the airship, Ruby turned to glance at the hangar again. She contemplated running. Why, she didn't know for sure. Was it fear?

 _But why fear? Dad and Yang are still family, Vale is safe again. Nothing about that has changed in those years. Even though Yang never wrote back._ The thought stung but Ruby's train of thought was quickly stopped by a gloved but firm hand on her shoulder. Jaune.

"You okay there, Ruby?" he said. His eyes were still dark, obviously still dealing some of the same troubles she had.

"I could ask you the same, and the answer would be the same, Jaune."

Ruby said, continuing her stare towards the hangar.

"Don't." Jaune quickly said, realizing the reason why she was still looking out towards the hangar. "You said it yourself. We need to face the past."

"I know. I just.." she started, turning to Jaune. "I'm terrified. I've become what I've always wanted but.. I can't help but feel-"

"That you've abandoned those who were important to you? Yeah." Jaune finished for her and shot her a comforting smile, getting a small frown of guilt from Ruby in return. "I know what you mean. But that won't stop our duties as Hunter and Huntress, Ruby. If there is something serious in Vale, we'll need to be there to help.".

Ruby took a deep breath and nodded at Jaune. "You're right." she said, turning to the main area of the Atlesian transport ship. "We should probably find a place to rest. It's still a long way to Vale."

* * *

"Stupid piece of s-!"

A metal prosthetic shattered into pieces at the force of the throw and left an impressive mark on the concrete wall. Fuming with rage, Yang closed her eyes in an attempt to calm herself down again. After a short moment and patient breaths, she started gathering it's pieces. All the prosthetics never worked for her. Clunky, slow, defective, Valian, Atlesian. All the same to her.

Throwing the pieces in a bin on the academy's grounds, Yang let out a heavy sigh. The autumn sun was slowly setting over Signal Academy and all the students had luckily left before seeing her outburst of rage.

"Let's hope the next one will be better, Yang." Tai said, attempting to soothe his daughter. It startled Yang and she tried to avoid his gaze. "Yeah. Whatever." she spat back at her father, before storming off ahead of him back on the road towards Patch. About five years after Ruby left, Yang had gotten a job at Signal replacing Qrow. Ironically, they chose the woman with only one arm to be a combat instructor. However after a brief period of time Yang was able to fill the role well. It still didn't mean she necessarily liked being one-armed. None of the prosthetics she had used throughout the years were able to sufficiently survive continued use, leaving her feeling like she would be useless were another attack on Vale happen. A living reminder that her rage got the better of her.

After getting the key from her bag, she opened the door to the house. When Ruby left, it felt empty. As did Yang. Everything she loved she had pushed away, all because of her stupid pride. Angrily she slammed the door close after entering, placing her bag in a corner and throwing the key onto the dinner table.

 _I don't need them. They've all left me. Blake left me when I needed her most, when I had literally given my arm to save her. Weiss was a daddy's girl after all. Stupid ice princess. And Ruby.. After I protected you for so long, you left me too. Mom.._

All at once the resentment towards those she once loved flooded back, the frustration boiling up again. They left her, it wasn't her pride that caused her to feel like this. The flames licked the furniture in the house as her temper flared. Closing her eyes again and breathing in deep, she managed to suppress her semblance. Hearing another key enter the door, she quickly made her way to her room, opting to avoid her father rather than be confronted by him. Yang did not want to deal with her father right now.

Quickly she made her way to her room. The instant she entered, she made her way over to her desk, gripping the wood of it tightly with her one hand. As Yang was trying to calm herself down, to suppress the memories, the golden glint of Ember Celica caught her eye. She took the weapon and let her fingers trace the grooves and damages on it. When she had lost her arm, she never wielded Ember Celica again. It's other twin lost, Yang vowed she would never use it again. It was a painful reminder to the fact that she failed not only herself, but her friends as well. Sighing heavily, she put it away again and opened the drawer of her desk. All at once, all the letters poured out of it, releasing the heavy rose scent. With a heavy sigh and a frustrated grunt, Yang started to clean them up. _Guess it's just not my day._

* * *

A stray beam of light stirred Ruby as it hit her eyes. A murmur left her lips as she turned around, pulling in the blanket to try and get more comfortable. After several turns and tosses she decided to get up, not able to return to sleep. Taking her scroll from the small table she read the time. _6:30. I guess I should check if Jaune's up._ Ruby thought, standing up from the bed. After a brief shower, she put on her specialist outfit. After she had joined Atlas, they had asked her to dress like all of them had. Ruby had refused, much to Ironwood's chagrin. However, over time, he had accepted it. Jaune had tried to wear the Atlesian clothes, but switched back to his more comfortable attire after a while. However it didn't mean Ruby hadn't changed her attire at all.

Ruby switched to an open-shoulder top, still the iconic black she always wore. However with sleeves which were a deep red, connected by silver pattern in the form of a cross to the top itself. A longer, neat skirt with a cut in the middle had replaced the 'Combat skirt' she used to wear, red as her sleeves with a silver trim. A smaller black waistline skirt was placed on top of it. The waistline skirt was fitted with her emblem, pockets and a special rack for ammo or other utilities she could need on a mission. The whole ensemble was finished by a black corset with red threads, black leggings and black gloves with silver lining. All of her armor was reinforced with lightweight material by Atlas. However, she still wore her cloak like usual. It was a reminder to her past, but one she remembered fondly instead of painfully.

Hooking Crescent Rose to her back and applying just a little makeup, she stepped out of her cabin. Looking on her scroll, Ruby was surprised to find that they were about an hour away from Vale. For a minute it caused a spark of panic in her. _It'll be fine. Stop worrying. You've killed well over ten thousand Grimm by now. This is marginally easier. Just stop acting like you're that little girl again. You're a grown wom- no. 'Warrior'._

After settling her panic she walked to the door next to her and knocked on the door. Ruby could hear the sound of a chair sliding along the floor before the door was opened. Jaune's eyes were bloodshot and there were heavy bags under them. "Oh. Hey." he said, trying to flash her a little smile but failing to do so.

"Jaune.. Are you okay?" Ruby asked, looking worried at him. Jaune opened the door,fully armored and clothed. Ruby found the room in an absolute disarray. The bedsheets were lying on the floor and Jaune's luggage was flung open, clothes scattered everywhere. In the middle of his luggage stood a golden box lined on the inside with a deep earthen brown. Ruby's eyes scanned the room before her eyes rested on the object on the desk. Pyrrha's circlet.

"Wait.. is that?" Ruby started, closing the door behind them. Jaune just nodded at her before sitting on the bed. "I kept it. I don't even really know why.".

Ruby slowly made her way to the desk, picking up the circlet and examining it. It was as flawless as when Pyrrha wore it. "Why did you bring it along?" she asked, her voice soft and gentle. She knew this was probably hard on Jaune. In their years of being friends (or even partners, if Ruby was to call it something) they had shared a lot, but always refrained from the absolute deepest pain. They understood that both of them had it locked away for a reason. Unfortunately, this trip brought up the pain again.

"Because she deserves to be remembered in a way that can only happen at Beacon. As a normal girl who had hopes and dreams, who wanted nothing more than be normal, but ended up dying a symbol anyway. She never wanted that. It's the reason she liked me, she said. At the dance, all those years ago. That I was the only one who immediately treated her like a person, instead of a goddess. I just wish I had known just how much she meant to me before.. she, you know, died." Jaune spoke. The sincerity in his voice touched Ruby. She had seen Pyrrha die with her own eyes, Cinder's magic turning Pyrrha to dust after the arrow pierced her heart, leaving only the circlet.

Gently, Ruby sat down next to him, the circlet still in her hands. It was hauntingly beautiful in its current state, a beautiful reminder to a great friend. "I just wish I could see her one last time, you know. I won't ever blame her for what she did. But I still need to tell her what she meant to me. What she continues to." Jaune continued, his eyes filling with tears.

Ruby shifted her gaze to him, then back to the circlet. A crazy - no, insane - idea popped into her head as she stood up. Jaune looked at her with confusion before she put on the circlet. She took Jaune's hands and pulled him to stand. Jaune's gaze was locked onto the circlet on her head. "Then say it. Just how much she meant and means to you, to me. I'm sure Pyrrha has never left you Jaune. She will hear it." Ruby spoke, choking up a little as she looked at her hurting friend. She tugged at his hands, pulling him slightly down to rest their foreheads together. Jaune instinctively put his arms around her and Ruby wrapped her arms around him, embracing him tightly in order to soothe him.

As soon as Jaune started speaking, his tears started flowing freely. "Pyrrha.. I can't thank you enough for always having believed in me. Supported me in every decision, helped me with every problem. You helped me train to become what I always aspired to be, and continue to inspire me to strive for greatness!"

Ruby's own tears started flowing as Jaune let go of all the pain in his heart. She closed her eyes, silently sobbing in his arms.

"I owe everything I am to you Pyrrha. And I will make sure I will do everything I can to make sure I will protect the world! It's my destiny to see the world at peace and I am glad it was you that was beside me when I made my first steps towards it. I love you Pyrrha. I always will." Jaune said, holding tighter onto Ruby. "I miss you."

The both of them stood there for a moment to let their hearts settle as their tears fell. They held onto each other before a beep on each of their scrolls alerted them that they were about fifteen minutes away from Vale.

Slowly, the both of them let go of each other, keeping their gazes at each other. Ruby took off the circlet with great care, holding it in her hands again. Jaune put his hands on hers and flashed her a heartwarming smile. "Thanks Ruby. I .. I didn't know I needed that.".

Ruby wiped away the ruined makeup and smiled back at him. "That's what friends are for Jaune. Rely on me the way I rely on you.".

Jaune nodded and let go of her hands. With a nervous chuckle he spoke again, "I guess I'll have to clean up this mess."

Ruby giggled at him, her eyes still wet with tears. "Well.. I guess I'd better leave you to it. I'll help with the first item." she said, turning towards the golden box and put the circlet in it before closing the lid of the box.

Jaune started gathering the scattered clothes as Ruby walked towards the door. "See you in ten minutes?" she asked, making Jaune look up at her. "Yeah. I'll see you soon." he said, flashing her a small smile. Ruby left and quickly gathered her luggage, a suitcase with clothes and a duffle bag with ammo and components for Crescent Rose. She made her way to the main deck, waiting on Jaune. Looking out of the window, she could see the city of Vale had changed dramatically. Most of the buildings were still the same, but looking down in the streets it seemed like there were a lot more hunters and huntresses. Not to mention more outposts and shelters. Ruby quickly turned her gaze towards Beacon, knowing that Qrow had taken over from Ozpin. The Dragon was still visible, yet frozen white in time. Her uncle had said Ruby was the one that had caused it with her silver eyes.

 _Glad that they've contained the problem. I wonder how he's doing. And if he's still a massive alcoholic._

Jaune strolled up to her with his bag slung over his shoulder and tapped Ruby on the shoulder, causing her to look at him. The heavy bags under his eyes seemed to have reduced, but still clearly showed his lack of sleep.

".. Did you even sleep last night?" Ruby asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow at him. When he shook his head 'No', she just sighed a little before flashing him a smile. "Well. Guess investigation will have to wait a day, until you've slept."

Jaune nodded, looking out of the window with her. Silently they both took in what they saw and pieced it together with their memories of the city. "Strange to be back." Jaune said.

"Yeah. It sure is. But I am no longer scared. I couldn't be scared of home." Ruby said as the airship came to a halt on the airpad.


	3. Chapter 3: Repairs

**At the moment of writing, Weapons Pointed at The Enemy - Redux has 32 Favorites and 59 Follows. And I am eternally grateful for every one of those favorites and follows. This week has been a whirlwind for me. After the finale of RWBY Volume 3 I was inspired to write again and started working with a new story structure for Weapons Pointed at The Enemy. I never expected it to get this many favorites and follows.**

 **I have started working on a few projects that came upon my way which I'm really excited for and got a new job for 4 hours a week at my studies, after being jobless for about 2 years (after quitting my old one for basically working 5 days a week combined with studies. I was busy for an average of 15 hours a day.) All in all, I feel like I'm entering a new chapter of my life. And I'm glad this story (and you, readers) are coming along with it. So, again. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.**

 **Sappy stuff out of the way, I present the third chapter of 'Weapons Pointed at the Enemy' : Repairs.**

 **Chapter 3: Repairs**

* * *

After landing, Ruby had walked with Jaune to the hotel they'd be staying in during their investigation of the disturbances. Ruby helped Jaune get to his room and made sure he was set before going to sleep. When she was done she made her way to her own room to stash away her luggage. She wouldn't need any of it for a casual stroll through the town. She contemplated leaving Crescent Rose in the room, but decided against it. _Don't know when a fight breaks out, best to stay on guard._

Ruby made her way to the front of the hotel and pulled out her Scroll. Pulling up a map application, she browsed the various aspects of the town. It seemed that most of it was returned to glory and some parts of the city had even grown in size. Mostly residential areas, nothing too interesting for Ruby.

Ruby sighed to herself. It had been such a long time since she was able to actually be anything else than a specialist, causing her to feel like she had forgotten to be anything else but a warrior.

Indulging her immature side, she decided to get some cookies before making her way to Beacon. _If Jaune knew, he'd tease me endlessly about it. Blonde fool doesn't know the deliciousness._ Ruby thought. She felt slightly ashamed still, but the taste brought her right back to when she attended Beacon. Happy memories of walking through Vale's streets with her friends caused her to continue onward with a large grin plastered on her face.

When she walked up to Beacon she found it brimming with life. Many younger students watched her as she made her way across the grounds, whispering amongst themselves. She didn't mind them much, her cloak obscuring her form as she finished the last of her cookies. When she threw away the bag, one of the students had walked up to her, a furious expression in his eyes.

"You don't have the right to wear that cloak." he said outright. Ruby was taken aback by the comment. She let her eyes glance over the boy, sizing him up. He looked much like Cardin Winchester had, albeit seeming much more honest. Not as stereotypically

"Uhh…" Ruby started, before her cloak was roughly grabbed by him and pulled off. Now Ruby was truly shocked. Shock quickly made way to anger however as she peered at the boy. Audacious, but how inconsiderably rude to just pull at _her_ cloak! Ruby smirked as the glance seemingly had the desired effect, the boy looking absolutely terrified.

"Y-you're _her_.." he stammered. Ruby took the cloak from his hands and donned it again, but leaving the hood off now. She looked confused at the boy. "What do you mean, 'You're her'?" she said, before looking around and finding students gathering near her. An intense feeling of awkwardness crawled up on Ruby. What was going on?

"Are you _the_ Ruby Rose? From Team RWBY?" another student asked, a girl with forward-facing curved horns and a scale like pattern on her forehead. For some reason it reminded Ruby of Blake. "Well. Yes.. Who else would I be?" Ruby said, still wearing the confused expression. All at once the students' faces lit up and an avalanche of questions was thrown at her. Ruby held up her hands defensively in an attempt to stop the surge of students trying to get close to her. A cough disturbed the students, and a familiar voice spoke. "Students, please do leave our guest alone. I am sure that she'll answer your questions sometime later, won't you, Miss Rose?" Glynda spoke. Ruby felt her a shiver creep up along her spine, reminded of the stern looks and speech she had been given by Glynda when she was younger. Quickly Ruby made her way through the students, joining at Glynda's side who had already to begun to walk towards the main building of Beacon Academy.

"Quite an entrance miss Rose." Glynda spoke again as they entered the Academy.

"It's Ruby. Please don't call me 'Miss Rose'. I'm not a child anymore." Ruby corrected Glynda, looking over the renovated halls. In the middle of the hall stood a statue that caused Ruby to stop for a moment. Reading the inscription, her suspicion was proven right. _Pyrrha Nikos -bright Beacon of hope- gave her life defending the realm against Cinder Fall. This is a monument to all those lost. Let their stories never be forgotten._

Etched into the stone were all of the names of those lost in protecting Beacon. Reading Penny's name caused a slight tinge of pain to run through her heart. Penny was still alive, but they hadn't created a new body for her. Ironwood said her 'creator' deemed it safer to let her remain as an AI. But it brought her back to the moment Pyrrha accidentally 'killed' Penny. It had all been a set up. Ruby placed a hand on Crescent Rose, feeling the groove where she had supplied a spot for one of the swords Penny used to wield.

"Ruby?" Glynda asked, causing Ruby to snap out of her trance.

"Oh. Sorry, Miss Goodwitch." she quickly apologized and flashing her a small smile before continuing to follow after her. They stepped into an elevator and quickly moved up the stories to the second-to-last story of the tower, Ozpin's original office completed destroyed in the assault. A giggle could be heard as the doors opened, one certainly not belonging to her uncle. Glynda loudly and roughly cleared her throat in attempt to make evident she had arrived.

"Look Snowflake.. I have things to do right now, I'll see you later." Qrow's rough voice spoke. Winter smiled as she stepped back and composed herself and her outfit. Deeming herself decent, she turned towards the elevator before spotting the newcomers. Her eyes widened as she looked at Ruby. "You? What are you doing here?" Ruby's breath cut short as she looked at Winter. Officially Winter was an Atlesian specialist as well, but she stayed behind in Vale to help relations between Vale and Atlas after the attack. _A little more than just official relations it seems._

"She's here to sightsee, aren't you Ruby?" Qrow said, his tone metaphorically dripping with sarcasm. Winter pursed her lips at Ruby before making her way past her and Glynda towards the elevator. "You need to speak with Weiss. Make sure that you do so soon. She'll be in Atlas." Winter spoke, trying her best to not sneer at Ruby. The lift opened up and she descended to ground level. With Winter gone, Qrow stood up from his chair and around the desk, leaning against it. Qrow hadn't changed one bit. He wore the same clothes, the same smug face and the same arrogant attitude. Ruby couldn't help but smile at it. "Hey there kiddo. How have you and Jauneboy holding up?" Qrow asked, the tone changed to actual sincerity with a hint of amusement.

"Pretty okay, all things considered. Was swarmed by your students. That was interesting to say the least. Like I was the living embodiment of a goddess or something." Ruby said, causing Qrow to laugh.

"That's because in Vale, you are as close as a living legend as could be. Or, at least, that's what we made of you and Jaune." Qrow spoke. "You see, when we were rebuilding Vale and Beacon, people needed hope. Hope in our bonds with the other nations and the hunters and huntresses. What works better than having two working for Atlas, each single-handedly dealing with armies of Grimm or White Fang upwards of thousand a fight? Or even better, the girl who flash-froze the Dragon on top of the school! To them, you are what they'll aspire to be." Qrow finished, a smug victorious grin on his face.

Ruby felt conflicted. It was pretty humbling to be looked up to by so many people. But at the same time, what Ruby and Jaune had accomplished was being exaggerated and used as a propaganda for hope. Not necessarily bad by itself, but still unfair to the reality of their prospective future. "Does Ironwood know of this?".

Qrow snickered. "Who do you think came up with the idea, kiddo? Tin man himself.".

Ruby would need a word with Ironwood later. She hadn't been asked about it or anything. She knew Jaune wouldn't like that it happened either. Being a Hunter or Huntress wasn't something you did lightly. Death was a very real consequence. Ruby had been naive at first, but the gravity of reality had set in when she witnessed death right in front of her.

Glynda coughed into her hand. "I am going to give you two some time alone. I have some students to deal with anyway. I hope you are considering appointing someone to help me, because at this rate I won't be able to keep up." she said, peering at Qrow before waving a small goodbye to Ruby and descending on the lift that had just come up.

Picking the flask from his desk, he unscrewed the cap of it and take a large swig before continuing. "So how's Atlas been treating you all these years? I see you didn't quite follow their rules regarding dress."

"Atlas is fine. There's things I disagree with, but in general, Jaune and me are actually making a difference." Ruby said, leaning a little back and crossing her arms. A scoff left Qrow's lips, causing Ruby to peer at him once again. "That's what you say. Meanwhile, the fight has been right here at Vale, kiddo. Nothing's changed.".

Ruby found herself annoyed at her uncle's remark, followed by 'kiddo'. It had been fine when she was younger, but found it sort of insulting now. _Was this how Winter felt after he taunted her way back then?_ She thought, "Then that'll be the reason we're make a difference. I was attempting to have just a friendly talk, and not about Atlas or anything. I mean, I don't even know how Dad and Yang are doing." Ruby said, rubbing her elbow as she felt slightly ashamed at admitting she didn't.

Qrow looked quite surprised however. "Really? I figured Tai would keep tabs on you and let you know.. Strange. Tai still teaches on Signal and I know Yang is combat instructor at Signal now. Ironic, ain't it? The one-armed girl teaching the two-armed ones. Heard she still kicks all kinds of ass though.".

Ruby chuckled, although felt a sting in her heart. When she left, Yang had been quite depressed. Blake left, her arm was gone. The words Yang spoke to Ruby had been haunting her for a while at Atlas. Ruby had decided however that she wouldn't be swayed by them, to continue her dream. She was glad to hear Yang had moved on as well.

"You thinking of seeing them?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow at Ruby inquisitively.

"Maybe. I'll have to see about that. I think Ironwood would like Jaune and me to do our job first." Ruby said. Her uncle snickered again, causing Ruby to snap at him. "What's so funny..?"

"Oh. Everytime I ask a question about you, you respond with 'Jaune and Me' or 'we'. I didn't figure you to be the 'having a boyfriend' kind of girl. Especially one that's basically your partner in battle. You take after your father after all.". Qrow said, amusement in his eyes and tone. Ruby stared at her uncle wide-eyed before stumbling her way through an excuse. "It's not- We're no- I mean Jaune's a great friend, but there's nothing between us! We've re- I mean, I relied on him heavily after joining Atlas. I worked together with him a lot and I learned a lot from him! "

"Whatever you say, kiddo. I was only joking anyway. Although I wish we could speak a little longer, unfortunately I have things to do. Can't say replacing Ozpin has been easy. But, I wanted to give you at least a personal hello." Qrow said, crossing his arms.

"If you want my advice; you should check up with your old friends. I'm sure they'd love to see what became of the goofball and the gun nut. Don't worry about Ironwood. I'll just request you for some stupid task or something.".

Ruby smiled at him. _After all these years, he still has my back._ "Thanks, uncle Qrow. I'll make sure to check up on them." she said and turned around to walked back towards the elevator.

"Ruby," Qrow quickly interjected, having made his way around the desk again. Ruby looked over her shoulder at him and added a questioning 'hmm' as the elevator ascended to her level. "You look exactly like your mother. She'd be proud at knowing what her daughter has become.".

"Thanks." Ruby said, barely keeping her composure. She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go down. Quickly she wiped away the tears forming in her eyes and smiled. It felt oddly heartwarming to know she made her mother proud, especially hearing it from Qrow.

With a large smile on her face, she decided to roam the school some more. Students came up to her and asked her for advice, or to see Crescent Rose. Others merely admired her from a distance. There were more faunus openly as well, reminding Ruby of Blake, Velvet and Sun. Ruby left satisfied when the students were called for supper, because in the students she saw the hopes and dreams she had once had. In return, it gave her hope. Hope that even though a war was still raging on right under everyone's noses, there would continue to be those who would stand against the darkness, in greater numbers than before. _I guess there will always be hope for the world, no matter how divided it may become. It always comes back together._

* * *

Qrow let out a heavy sigh as he sat down in his chair again. He was glad Ruby was okay, and she seemed to still be herself instead of an Atlesian puppet. A flashing light on the monitor on his desk alerted him of a message. A black flame symbol popped up and opened.

'Fallen pawn found. Southeast. Multiple flocks required. Bull on tail'.

Qrow smirked to himself. Ruby might meet his secret spy sooner than he initially thought. _Time to put RWBY back together._

* * *

Ruby pulled out her scroll as she waited at the airship platform at Patch. Jaune had woken up an hour earlier and Ruby asked him to come along with her. He eagerly agreed, and said he'd be there as soon as he could. Impatiently, she tapped her foot on the ground and put the scroll away. Running a hand through her hair, she looked at the setting sun over the bay. Ruby had expected everything in to be much worse than it was. The city felt different, but the people were the same. She saw excitement and hope everywhere and in everyone.

In the distance the airship approached, causing Ruby to let out a sigh of relief. For some reason, she really wanted Jaune to be there when she would go Yang and her Dad again. Jaune stepped out of the airship and walked up to her, smiling happily. The bags under his eyes were mostly gone and he didn't look as pale as he had before. "Hey there, stranger." Ruby said, smirking at him and giving him a hug. Jaune seemed slightly surprised by this, but returned the brief hug. "Hey. You alright?" Jaune asked as they separated.

"Yeah. I went to Beacon and stayed there for most of the day." Ruby said, giving the setting sun a last glance before walking towards Patch with Jaune. "Qrow's the new headmaster. Glynda's still there. Surprisingly, Winter and Qrow seem to have a thing. Oh, and a little side note, we are apparently local legends."

"Wait. Hold up. Legends?" Jaune asked, chuckling nervously.

"Yep. Legends. It seems Ironwood's been sharing our successful missions with people to use as propaganda for students from another country cooperating with another. And they've exaggerated them as well. Apparently you defended a town against a flock of a hundred Nevermore. Oh, and I personally destroyed a whole battalion of the White Fang in one go." Ruby said, her voice laden with sarcasm.

"Great.. Like being back wasn't going to be awkward enough." Jaune sighed heavily. His shoulders drooped and his head leaned down. Ruby giggled at the display. "Oh don't worry Jaune. It's not all bad. I spoke with a lot of students at Beacon. They see us as examples of what to be, of how the world can be peaceful and the dedication we have given to make it so. We're more like role models then what I envisioned as legends. It's just that we've been away for so long that nobody thought that we were real." Ruby said and turned to walk down the road she had last walked on ten years ago. She stopped walking as she spotted the house.

Jaune quickly turned to his friend as Ruby froze in her tracks. Jaune opened his mouth but quickly shut it as he realized why she was frozen. Without any words between them, Jaune pulled Ruby into an embrace. He could feel her tremble in his arms and slowly pet her head comfortingly. Ruby's heart beat violently in her chest, fear gripping her and rendering her unable to move.

A moment passed and the fear slowly subsided. She wrapped her arms around Jaune and nuzzled into his chest, breathing in his scent. It was something she had become comfortable with. Throughout the years, they both had nightmares. It wasn't uncommon to find them both sleeping in the same bed snuggled up together, keeping each other safe. Ruby was glad she'd always be able to rely on Jaune. Having sufficiently calmed down, she let go of him. "Thank you." Ruby said, staring into his eyes. "No problem." Jaune said, giving her a large smile. "Are you sure you're ready, Ruby? We can come back later, you know.".

"Yeah. I'm sure. It's been so long, I just. I hope Yang will forgive me. For leaving her." Ruby said, walking closer to the house again. "I'm sure she will." Jaune quickly said. Ruby approached the door and hovered her hand to the door. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on it. Ruby nearly felt sick as she waited for someone to answer the door, but Jaune put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. _It's going to be alright._

Ruby held her breath as the door opened and she looked at the wide-eyed face of her father.

"Summer…?" he asked, his face pale as if he had just seen a ghost. Ruby's eyes welled up with tears and smiled at her father. "No dad. It's me. Ruby." she said, before crashing into an embrace with her father. She hadn't realized how much she had missed him.

The loud creak of another door opening could be heard. "Hey dad, who's at the do.." Yang said, walking towards the door. Her sentence was cut short as she spotted her father embracing a red-headed girl with a red cloak. Tears welled up in Yang's eyes as well. "Ruby..?" Looking up, Yang's gaze was met with the tear-stained one of Ruby.

"Oh, hey there sis. Long time no see." Ruby choked out through happy tears.


	4. Chapter 4: Reconstruction

_**"What we end up making is always larger then what we think it'll be. I do believe thoroughly in giving everything you got to whatever you're doing at the time." - Monty Oum.**_

 **I'd like to thank you all again for the continued support of this story. It's great to see new follows, favorites and reviews pop up in my mailbox. All of that is giving me the energy to keep writing through the night and basically fall asleep on my keyboard, only to wake up, go to bed and lie awake next to my girlfriend thinking of the next chapter I want to write and how the story progresses.**

 **So here it is. Chapter 4: Reconstruction.**

Chapter 4: Reconstruction

After the tear filled reunion, they all went inside. Taiyang was busy making coffee, so Ruby went to explore the house. Yang and Jaune had struck up a conversation about.. something. Ruby couldn't quite hear, but heard Yang roar in laughter a couple of times. Ruby felt right at home again, to the point where her room looked like it hadn't been touched in the ten years she had been gone. She took one of the Grimm figurines from a shelf and traced it's patterns with her fingers. Ruby smiled as she noticed it was a Beowolf, the one Grimm species Qrow had saved Ruby and Yang from all those years ago. Gently she fell back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

In that moment, she felt as if she was a little girl again. When her biggest worry was fitting in with the people of Beacon, instead of stopping terrorist groups and terrible monsters from destroying the world. When Weiss and her had been studying for the tests and…

Ruby sat up. In all of the years, she never thought much of Weiss. Winter seemed quite insistent on Ruby and Weiss talking again. Almost as if Ruby had actively avoided it. But that was just the thing, she hadn't. In the first year at Atlas, she tried to call Weiss multiple times, but each time she would cancel the call or even let it ring. Spotting her at Atlas Academy, she was usually stopped by the Atlesian knight. After a year however, Jaune and Ruby went into the specialist training program, causing them to be posted to secret base at all times. The 'Bulkhead' the facility was called. Using the latest technologies Atlas had, it was one of the most well hidden military bases Atlas possessed.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and looked up Weiss in her contacts, just to make sure she still had the number. A knock on the door frame caused Ruby to look up and see Yang standing in the doorway. "Hey there sis." she said, before moving towards the bed opposite to her and sitting down on it.

"Hey Yang." Ruby said, she attempted to avoid her sister's gaze and twiddling her thumbs nervously.

A brief moment of silence passed between the two before Yang finally spoke up. "I don't blame you." she said. Ruby looked up, into the eyes of Yang. Only a warmth could be found in them, reflected in the genuine smile she gave. "Blame me for what?" Ruby asked.

"For leaving. Continuing your life. Going to Atlas. I heard all the tall stories from my students. And guessing what you look like now, I can guess that they're at least halfway true." Yang said, chuckling at the end.

Ruby beamed at her sister, her guiltiness replaced by relief. "I mean, look at you. You look like an absolute hundred percent badass. I could see you taking down hordes of Grimm. No doubt. Same goes for Jaune. What did you do to him that makes him so.. So…" Yang continued, putting a pondering finger to her lips.

"Grown up?" Ruby tried to finish for her. "I was going to say 'Hot', but okay. Let's go with grown up." Yang said with a mischievous grin, causing Ruby to look at her flustered. "I'm kidding. Although you two seem really close.". Ruby looked down at her thumbs again. Why was everyone suggesting there was more to her and Jaune then there was? They were great friends and partners, nothing more!

"Oh?" Yang questioned, her grin widening. "Are you 'that' close now?".

"Please, Yang, stop." Ruby pleaded, looking at her with begging eyes. "There is nothing like that between me and him. We are great friends and partners in battle. Don't look into it more. It was only us two at Atlas, it's not really surprising I'm such great friends with him."

Yang held her hand up defensively, her grin remaining. "Okay. Okay. I'll drop it."

A moment passed between them until Yang sighed and looked at the ceiling. "I'm sorry for not writing back.".

Ruby's heart skipped a beat. "What?" she asked. "I read every letter you know. I even kept them. But.. I was so angry for so long. I really felt like everyone left me when I needed them most. My Mom, Blake. And then you. And like I said before, I don't blame you. I just.." Yang said, sighing heavily again. "I just wish things could've been simpler, and I could be less angry all the time. I'm so frustrated at being so unable to do things sometimes. You wouldn't even begin to comprehend how bad the prosthetics are. I think I've broken nearly one a week.." .

"It's okay. Honestly, I was terrified coming back here. I felt guilty at leaving you. I still remember the day I woke up again.. and.." Ruby started, then letting her words trail off, letting both their thoughts fill in the blanks.

"Yeah. But I'm starting to get over it now. I sometimes relapse, but reading one of your letters always manages to calm me down. For some reason, knowing you were doing awesome, helped me feel awesome. I just regret not writing you back." Yang said, smiling apologetically at Ruby.

"It's fine, Yang. I don't know how long Jaune and me will be staying in Vale. But let's keep in touch from now on, okay? Whatever happens." Ruby said.

A mischievous grin grew on Yang's face again. "Wow Rubes, I mean, 'Keep in Touch?'. That stings you know.". Again Ruby flustered, thinking her sister to be serious. "Sorry! I didn't mean it like that! I mean, I could make you an arm if you'd like!" Ruby blurted out before Yang's face shifted to complete surprise. "Make me an arm?" she asked, her voice nearly a whisper.

".. Well, a prosthetic. And I don't see why not. I don't think you guys found my secret stash of components for Crescent Rose, did you?" Ruby asked. Yang shook her head no. "Let's see after coffee, okay? I'm sure Dad's wondering what's taking us." Ruby said and stood up from the bed and made her way down the stairs. Jaune looked slightly pale as Taiyang greeted his daughters again. "Ah, hello girls. Me and Jaune had just finished our little talk.".

Ruby's eyes went wide as she looked at Jaune again and saw fear in his eyes. Yang's snicker from behind Ruby confirmed her suspicions, her father had the same idea Yang initially had. Pinching the bridge of her nose at frustration, she started, "Dad.. We're just friends. You don't need to threaten him. Trust me, the last thing I'm looking for right now is a boyfriend. I have responsibilities as a specialist, you know. Like saving Remnant.".

"Oh. Right. Well. Then I'm sorry for some of the things I have said during our little talk, Jaune." Taiyang said, offering him his hand to shake. Jaune hesitantly shook it, but visibly relaxed after having done so. "It's just, I don't see my daughter for ten years after she runs off with a boy and his friends, and suddenly she comes back looking much less innocent than before. As a fath-" Taiyang continued before Ruby cleared her throat roughly and peered intently at her father. "Dad. Please. You're making it worse.". Taiyang held his hands up in defeat, then motioned for Ruby and Yang to sit. "Come on you two, sit down. Ruby, I want to know everything about those ten years." her father said. Ruby shifted her gaze to Yang, who smiled apologetically to her. Ruby let out a small sigh and smiled. "Well, it all started when we got a message from Ironwood after we got to Haven.."

* * *

Weiss stormed through the halls of the Schnee Mansion. She was furious, and it was apparent in every move she made. Coming up to her father's study, she pushed open the door. "Father!" she yelled at him, peering at him defiantly. Her father raised his eyes from the paperwork on the desk to look at her. Giving her a single glance, he returned his gaze towards the paperwork again, unimpressed by the childish and rebellious display.

"What is it." he asked, continuing on his work. Weiss huffed, insulted that her own father wouldn't even look her in the eye. "We had a deal, Father. Faunus working with the Schnee company would no longer be slaves. They would have every equal right as a human. I just got a report saying that in the past month alone, over two hundred Faunus have died under our employment. Because the working conditions are abominable! This is not what you promised me!" Weiss angrily replied.

With a frustrated sigh, her Father looked up and took off his reading glasses. "We have had this discussion before, Weiss, and it should serve you well to remember it. I do not care about my labor force. They have to work for our materials and that is how we make money. Faunus are nothing more than beasts and working for the Schnee company will give them a purpose.".

"But you promised you wou-" Weiss started, before her father cut her off with a slam of his hands on the desk and stood up. "I promised NOTHING!". Weiss screwed her lips together as she met her father's furious gaze with her own. "Now be a good daughter and make sure the White Fang doesn't destroy everything I have built." he said, sitting down again and letting his gaze return to the paperwork. "No." Weiss said, her voice slightly shaking. _Am I really going to do this..? No, no doubt now. I have to do this._

"No?" her father inquired, the anger in his voice more threatening than before. "No. I will not help you or the company if all you do is treat the Faunus like dirt. You have become twisted, Father. And I will never become like you." Weiss said, finding her own resolve again.

"Then leave. I have more important matters to attend to." her father said, not acting on his daughter's insult.

Weiss scoffed disbelievingly. _More important matters to attend to, huh?_ "Thank you Father." she said, her words spat like poison. "For what?" her father inquired again, not looking up from his work. "For confirming my decision." Weiss said and threw the blazer with the Schnee logo on his desk before turning around and slamming the study's doors closed behind her. She knew where to go now. Where she had always belonged. _Vale._

* * *

Ruby placed down the hefty box of components on the workshop table. "So.. What else do you need, Rubes?" Yang asked, holding a prosthetic in her hand. "Well.. I need Ember Celica to see if it can fit on your soon-to-be awesome robot arm." Ruby replied, humming softly as she was given the prosthetic by Yang. Inspecting it quickly, she pulled out the small holographic platform and placed it on the table. After no answer was given by Yang, Ruby turned to look at her and found her frowning. "What's wrong..?"

"I don't have the second half of Ember Celica anymore. After I lost my arm, it was left behind. Qrow said they couldn't find it after they secured the school." Yang said, looking downcast as she remembered losing it. Without even realizing it, her hand was caressing the stumped end of her right arm. "Oh." Ruby said, looking away. "Well, I could build a new Ember Celica inside of the prosthetic..?"

Yang looked up at her sister in disbelief. "What? You mean you'll make my arm literally a weapon?" she asked. Ruby nodded. "Yeah. I don't see why not. It's easier than just, create it separately again or something. And I could maybe do something with Dust to enhance it."

"Well. Okay then. Make my new arm a gun then." Yang said, smiling at the prospect. "Well. I still need to see Ember Celica you know. To replicate its design for in your new arm. I'll prep the prosthetic for all the stuff first." Ruby said. Yang nodded and went to her room to grab her weapon.

Meanwhile, Ruby had pressed the button on the holographic platform. "Salutations, Ruby! I hope your mission is going well?" Penny said. "Hmm. This doesn't seem quite like your room at the hotel." Ruby chuckled. "It's because it's not. This is the house I grew up in, Yang and my dad still live here." Penny looked wide-eyed as she took in the room, before shyly speaking again. "Oh. It's really pretty here, Ruby.".

Ruby looked at her hologram friend again. "Thanks Penny. Anyway, I needed your help. Yang lost her arm a really long time ago and I'm making her a new one, could you help with the schematics for it?" Ruby said, her friend looking at her curiously. I'm going to fit a fire dust-crystal powered shotgun in it, but I was wondering if Atlas has anything on such a mechanism."

Penny put a pondering finger to her lips. "I think I may have an idea!" With a blip, she disappeared and many schematics rushed by on the hologram. Yang put Ember Celica on workshop table and instantly the hologram scanned the weapon. "What the he-" Yang started before Penny popped up on the hologram. "Salutations, friend Yang!" Yang was awestruck. "Penny?" she whispered. Yang knew for sure that Penny had died at Beacon, and that she was a robot. But still, it shocked her to see the exact same awkward robot girl as back then. Just, without a body.

"Yeah.. They downloaded Penny into the Atlas database. She helps me and Jaune on missions. Or other tasks." Ruby said. Penny flipped up a schematic and projected it onto the stripped prosthetic. "I have analyzed all the components you have with you, found a schematic and crossed it with the loading schematic for Ember Celica. If you use this schematic, together with the materials I have selected, Ruby can craft your new weapon and you'll be operating like never before, friend Yang!" Penny said excitedly, nearly beaming at Yang. "That's.. that's amazing, Penny. Thank you." Yang replied. It was so strange seeing a reminder of back then.

"Sen-sational! Now if you'll excuse me, General Ironwood requires me to run some data! Bye, friends!" Penny said, disappearing once again and leaving the schematic up.

Ruby had eagerly gone to work already when Penny disappeared. Yang was still processing the information and sat down on a stool close to the workbench. Within fifteen minutes of work, Ruby held up the prosthetic and examined her work so far. Flipping open the side-panel of the arm, she found a revolving mechanism for the dust crystals. She placed it down again and took a small pack from her equipment-rack. Ruby opened it and carefully placed the dust crystals on the workshop table. With great care she placed each of the crystals in their slots. Satisfied with her work, she gave the chamber a twirl causing it to click past the disengaged lock satisfyingly so. Closing the panel, the revolving chamber locked in place. "It's done." she said, smiling broadly at her sister.

Yang snapped out of her trance and looked at Ruby. "Wait, already?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Well, it's not fully calibrated yet. But yeah. This'll be it, mostly. We'll have to calibrate it after you've taken it for a test." Ruby said, and placed the newly built arm to Yang's stumped one. Gears whirred and a sharp sting ran through Yang as she felt it adjust to her and something piercing her skin. "Ow." she said, causing Ruby to laugh nervously. "Oh. Yeah. Sorry. I should have said it would essentially lock onto your arm. The idea is that..". Yang could feel her arm. She could feel her fingers. Her eyes were wide as she held out her new hand in front of her, examining it. "I can.. feel everything." she whispered and a happy smile spread across her lips.

"Yeah. It's locked onto your nervous system. You can control it like if it was just your normal hand. Do be careful though. It is much, much stronger than just your normal hand. So don't go squeezing students' cheeks or anything. You might hurt them, bad. Now let's test yo-" Ruby said before Yang crashed into her and hugged her tightly, causing Ruby to quickly tap Yang's shoulder. "Choking, choking!" she managed to breathe out before Yang let go. "Sorry." Yang said, wiping away some tears of joy. Ruby smiled at her sister and wiped away the leftover components from the table before placing a can on it. "Well. As I was about to say, let's test it and calibrate it where needed. There's an indicator on your arm as to what kind of dust crystal you're using and, if I'm right, you can fire it much like you could with Ember Celica. Try to hit the can, Yang!".

Yang felt the satisfying whirr of the dust-crystal chamber in her arm and locked it in place with the fiery dust crystal. She walked a little bit away from the workshop table and took a stance. With a punch, she felt the dust release and shoot a fiery projectile at the can, utterly obliterating it to several molten pieces. Yang laughed and turned on the safety on. She walked over to Ruby and picked up her still smaller sister and twirled around in a tight hug, this time making sure not to choke her. Placing her down, Yang was once again wiping away the tears of joy. "Thanks Rubes. Thank you so much for giving me this again. It's been so long since I have felt like this, like I am useful." she spoke and gave Ruby a genuine smile.

"Don't worry Yang. You'll always be my big sister." Ruby said and beamed a great smile back at her sister. "What are you going to call your weapon though? I mean, I made it and all, but you still have one part of Ember Celica.".

Yang thought about it for a moment. Her thoughts settled and only one answer was clear.

"I know what I'm going to call it." she said.

"Ember Redemptio."


	5. Chapter 5: Closer

**Writing this story is actually really soothing. It allows me to zone out and focus on what I'm doing at right this moment. There were some difficult decisions I had to make writing this chapter. Through discussing with a couple of friends I was able to finally finish it. I hope you guys will enjoy it.**

 **So here it is, Chapter 5 : Closer**

* * *

Chapter 5: Closer

Ruby, Yang and their father shared a tight hug before Jaune and Ruby moved to leave onto the airship. "I'll keep in touch with you two, maybe see if I can get some sort of leave soon to come back." Ruby said after letting go with a smile. "I hope so Rubes. Might be interesting to show you off to the students at Signal." Yang said, and waved off her sister.

Jaune smiled as Ruby walked up to him and the both of them onto the airship. "So, that was significantly better than you expected, huh?" Jaune remarked. With a happy sigh, Ruby leaned into with Jaune and embraced him as the airship closed. Jaune comfortingly pet her hair and returned the embrace. "Yes." she sighed into his chest again before pushing herself slightly out of the embrace to look at Jaune. "I'm sorry for all the drama. And tears. And my dad.".

Jaune laughed. "It wasn't that bad. It actually was kind of great seeing Yang again. Although strange to see her grown up and not making a bunch of puns.". Jaune met her gaze and felt his heart flutter. He hadn't seen Ruby this happy in years. Jaune took in all the details of her face, a mental picture of bliss to him. Ruby shied away from his gaze and pushed back a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Why are you staring at me like that?" she asked, causing Jaune to break his trance with a blush on his cheeks. "Well! I uh.. I was looking like that because It's been so long that I've seen you this happy. I wanted to remember how you look smiling like that.". Jaune never lied to Ruby, after all they had been through, he felt no need to.

With a playful push from Ruby, they broke the embrace. Much to Jaune's displeasure for some reason. "Let's get something to eat when we're back in Vale. I'm starving." Ruby said, causing Jaune to remember a little restaurant he and his team had gone to. Quickly he pulled out his scroll and looked it up. "Yes." he whispered to himself, causing Ruby to once again raise an eyebrow at her friend. Jaune tapped quickly on the screen and with a satisfied smile put his scroll away. "What did you just do?" Ruby asked, causing Jaune to turn his head up to her again.

"Miss Rose, we are going to have dinner at The Tower's Light." he said and smirked at Ruby. "You didn't." Ruby just responded, disbelievingly. "I was thinking we could just pop into a café or something. Not, like, a genuine restaurant.". Jaune looked slightly downcast as Ruby spoke. She noticed, flustering and attempting to apologize again. "Oh I didn't mean I didn't want to go! It's just -.. You know I am not really all that fancy. I'm just afraid I might embarrass you." Ruby said. It almost seemed as if she were shy at the prospect. "Well. You know I am not always that flattering as well. But last time I have been there, it was all fine. So don't worry, Ruby. It'll be fun."

* * *

An hour later, the both of them had returned to their hotel rooms to freshen up before going to get dinner. Jaune sighed softly to himself as he was sitting on his bed with Pyrrha's circlet in his hands. The first time he had gone to The Tower's Light had been with JNPR. He remembered fondly how he could display his etiquette to Pyrrha, who seemed quite surprised at his understanding of it. Unfortunately, Nora was of a different caliber and they were nearly kicked out of the establishment because of that. A soft chuckle left Jaune's lips at that.

Jaune had taken off his hoodie and put on a neat shirt, deeming his usual attire not appropriate for eating at a restaurant. Pyrrha had insisted on that when they had gone there at first. _Pyrrha.._ Jaune reminisced, rubbing his thumb over the front of the circlet in his hands. For some reason, seeing Yang today had helped him accept the past as well. He was nervous about seeing her again, but it wasn't that bad. They had joked about a few mishaps Ruby had during their training and Yang had talked about a couple of their students resembling Jaune when he first came to Beacon. Yang had complimented him about how strong he looked now and it made him swell with pride. Not only for himself, but also for Pyrrha, that her belief was not misplaced.

Jaune was taken aback from another question Yang gave him however. " _So, are you and my sister a thing now..?"_ Yang's words resounded in his head. He had never thought of Ruby in such a light. He gripped the circlet in his hands tightly, conflicted as the thought ran rampant in his head. He felt guilty, mostly. Pyrrha had loved him always, and he still loved Pyrrha. There was a reason he had the mental breakdown on the way to Vale.

Yet, something was happening to him now that they were back here in Vale. The trust and comfort he found in Ruby reminded him so much about what his relationship with Pyrrha had been like, and it made him nervous. Not nervous about what they may end up like, he was fairly certain that whatever would happen the two of them would stick together, as friends or more. But nervous about actually giving Pyrrha the remembrance she deserved. Throughout the years, honoring Pyrrha and what she saw in him was all that mattered. _But now.. I'm not even sure if I could do her justice._

Jaune shook his head. He'd talk it over with Ruby later. Placing the circlet in a small leather pack, he stood up. He firmly locked the leather pack to his belt, opposite of the sheathed Crocea Mors. He left his room and walked across the hallway and knocked on Ruby's. "Ruby, you ready? We have to go now if we want to be there on time.". When the door opened, Jaune was awestruck. He had seen Ruby in a dress before, during the prom at Beacon all those years ago. But this was something else entirely.

Ruby was wearing a long single shoulder dress with a part in the middle. However the color of the dress was nearly as scarlet as her hair, compared to the usual black she incorporated into her attire. Her hair had a small braid down the middle of her hair with her signature rose-emblem, holding together the rest of her hair neatly. She blushed up a storm, adding up to all the red of her outfit. Jaune was speechless, so Ruby spoke in his stead to answer the question he would undoubtedly have. "I thought I could dress up a bit.. seeing as this will be my first time at a proper restaurant like this. It just seemed fun and I never did it.. so. Yeah. Could you please stop staring?".

Jaune stammered a response, still taken aback by his beautiful friend before him and averted his gaze. "You look wonderful.. You didn't have to, you know, go all out like this. I know you .. uhh.. Don't like to dress up.". Ruby laughed a little at that. "It's fine.. Penny insisted and.. well. After everything that happened today, a little crazy and out of the ordinary is fine. In the end we're still people." she said. "I mean, you're also sort of dressed up.". Jaune laughed. "I put on a shirt. I'm not looking like I would belong at a ball." he said, causing Ruby to laugh as well. "Well then, if I do belong at a ball, I ought to have an escort to said ball, no? And I only see one fine gentleman able to do that." she joked, dispelling the awkwardness between them again. Jaune held out his arm and Ruby looped her arm around his with much posh exaggeration. Instantly, Jaune was a little less worried.

* * *

After a short walk, they had arrived at the The Tower's Light. Jaune was looking confused at the amount of people in front of the establishment as Ruby and him arrived. "It's him!" one of the crowd shouted and they surrounded Jaune and Ruby. Jaune's mind was reeling at the flashes of cameras and the hysterical screaming of women. Struggling to get through, A staff member of the restaurant and came out and guided both Jaune and Ruby towards the entrance of the restaurant with the help of a couple of bouncers. Jaune felt his loose arm being gripped and turned looked at the one responsible. "Please, I want your babies!" the woman hysterically screamed at him causing him to recoil and pull his arm back quickly.

Once inside, Jaune and Ruby both looked incredibly ruffled at what had just happened. The host gave them a sympathetic smile as he began to speak. "I'm incredibly sorry, Mr. Arc. It seems somehow information about your reservation was leaked and attracted this crowd. I assure you that I will do everything I can to make our lack of preparation right. It's not everyday that we get a legend to visit our establishment. And I see you have brought a date. My apologies to you too, miss…?".

Ruby flustered again and looked wide-eyed at the host. "Rose. Ruby Rose. But, this isn't a date. We're just here to get dinner." Jaune quickly said, attempting to ease Ruby's mind again.

"My, two legends. I unfortunately did not recognize you Miss Rose. The legends only speak of your heroic deeds, not of the beauty you possess." the host continued, causing Ruby to blush even harder than before. "In any case, welcome to The Tower's Light. We have prepared a special table for you. Please do follow me.".

* * *

About two hours and a nice dinner later, the both of them were sitting satisfied at their table. Ruby looked around and took in everything. "How did you even find this place.." she said, clearly in awe at it. It was quite elegant, but still seemed very inviting. Comparing it to the places Weiss used to take her, it was quite a difference. Jaune smiled and leaned a little back in his chair. "We went here as a team, after the first semester. Pyrrha insisted on it.". Jaune laughed a little. "We nearly got kicked out at the end of the evening because Nora was being quite.. Nora to the waiters.". Ruby smiled at Jaune. "Seems like it was wonderful." she said.

Jaune simply looked at his friend for a moment, taking in what she looked like again. In that instant, Jaune swore he saw Pyrrha's image appear. A smile on her lips and the bright emerald eyes shining with pride. Jaune's lips formed a smile and his heart swelled. After a brief moment, he saw the image fade away revealing his friend. A slight cough brought him back to reality. "You were staring again. Thinking of the past?" Ruby asked and took a sip of her wine. "Yeah. I think I might contact Ren and Nora tomorrow. See how they're doing, you know?" Jaune said, the smile on his face not fading. "It's kind of weird being revered as legends, though." he sighed. Ruby sighed softly. "Yeah. It is. But I don't really mind. It just proves we're doing something right, even though it's being severely exaggerated.". Ruby downed the rest wine and placed the glass gently on the table.

"I guess so." Jaune said. "I assume we'll start investigating tomorrow?". Ruby shook her head. "No. Ironwood has given us two days of leave before we start. Qrow apparently talked to him and swayed him for it. So we'll start in two days.". Jaune was glad that they had. "Oh. Well. Then I guess tomorrow we'll find Ren and Nora. If you want to come at least." Jaune said and looked at his friend again. Ruby just nodded. "Of course I'll come. I mean, I'm curious as well to how they're doing. And you know I'll be by your side like you were by mine today. Well, after you've slept finally." she said, ending by flashing an accusing smirk at Jaune. Jaune rolled his eyes. "I'm glad you're okay though. I was really worried. It's been very long since I've seen you in such a state." Ruby said, her expression turning to genuine concern again.

Jaune looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry. I should've told you about how I felt. I was quite shocked yes, but I should've told you about Pyrrha's circlet." he sighed. "Yeah. You should have." Ruby said, causing Jaune to look up at her. "Jaune. We've been friends if not partners for the last ten years. Remember what I said? On the way to Vale?" She continued, "'Rely on me the way I rely on you.'. I said this because in the past years through all of the pain and hurt we've gone through you were always there for me. Always giving me a shoulder to cry on or a tight hug to calm me down. But you've always tried to fix your own problems by yourself and suffered because of it, up until the boiling point when I was there to help you pick yourself up again.".

Ruby's tone shifted to genuine care and warmth as she went on. "Please, stop putting yourself through that suffering. It hurts to watch you like that. If not for me or yourself, do it for her, Jaune. She wouldn't want you to live like this, always regretting what could've been instead of living what is.". Jaune was genuinely taken aback by Ruby. He looked at her with his mouth agape, stunned. Ruby quickly wiped away some tears forming in her eyes and put on a stern gaze again. "Promise me Jaune. Promise me that you'll just tell me about things the minute they're wrong.". She looked at him for confirmation of what she had just told him. ".. Okay Ruby. I will." he said, his voice barely a whisper. "I guess I'll start with that I need to do something, then."

* * *

After paying for the food and leaving through the back of the restaurant to avoid the people out front, they took a cab to Beacon. It was late at night and most of the students had returned to their dorms. The grounds were peaceful and quiet, soothing Jaune's mind as they continued on. Ruby had taken off her heels in the cab, still claiming them to be "stupid lady-stilts.". "I know the perfect place to put the circlet." Ruby said, grabbing Jaune's hand and interlocking her fingers with his for support. It caused Jaune to smile. After a short walk, Jaune knew exactly why Ruby had dragged him along with her. He stared in awe at the statue. A life-size marble version of Pyrrha fighting Cinder stood on a pedestal before them. Ruby let go of his hand and took a step back, letting Jaune take his time.

Jaune smiled, no, grinned as he examined the statue closer. The focused look of Pyrrha and the agility she possessed reflected perfectly. The sheer determination she had in everything she did. Jaune pulled out the circlet from the small leather pack and looked at it. Turning his gaze towards the statue, he unlocked Crocea Mors from his belt and turned to Ruby. "Hold this for a moment." he said, giving the weapon to Ruby. He pulled up his sleeve, put the circlet around his arm and attempted to find his footing on the pedestal of the statue. Satisfied, he took the first step and climbed up. After a few seconds of climbing, he stood before the marble version of Pyrrha and breathed in deep. He was no longer in pain at her memory. He still missed her, but he had achieved what she had wanted for him. He gently placed the circlet on her marble head, it fitting perfectly. Chuckling, Jaune leaned his head against the circlet.

"You once asked me if I believed in destiny. I wasn't able to answer then, because I didn't know what you meant." he whispered. "I know now that your destiny was to go up that tower. To face the greatest enemy you would ever face for something you believed in. I'm sorry that that was the end of your destiny. But I'm glad you have helped me find mine.". Jaune opened his eyes again and looked at the marble Pyrrha's face. "I will never forget you. I will always love you. And I will always be thankful for what we had." he said. Satisfied he turned to climb back down. He wasn't sad anymore. All the regret was now gone, the circlet where it belonged. _At Beacon. Where she was a normal girl. Even though they gave her a pedestal, those who knew her will know better._

Ruby smiled warmly at Jaune as he clambered down. She held his sword in her hands, motioning for him to take it as Jaune walked closer. However, Jaune had a different idea. Gently grabbed hold of her waist with one hand and caressed her cheek with one hand before leaning in and softly placing his lips on hers. Ruby's eyes went wide at the initial kiss, her heart beating like crazy. However, after the shock subsided, she carefully wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes.

Jaune smiled happily into their kiss. _Thank you Pyrrha. For everything. But I have to keep moving forward._


	6. Chapter 6: Trust

**Thanks again for your continued support for the story. This story has has 53 favorites and 95 follows so far and it's only been a week. It's insane. Thank you for all the reviews. It's beautiful to see people enjoying something I am loving working on myself as well. It's a humbling experience and I'll just keep working at it like I am now. Soon, I'll have a week off of my studies and probably will be writing a whole lot then, so prepare for continued chapters.**

 **Anyway, all my rambling out of the way, I present you Chapter 6 : Trust**

* * *

Chapter 6: Trust

Ruby was surprised as Jaune had kissed her. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it. _But it feels right._ She thought. After what felt like an eternity to Ruby, their lips separated. The both of them were blushing and breathing against each other's lips. "So.. that was my first kiss." Ruby started, whispering the words against Jaune's lips. She looked embarrassed, realizing she had done something so intimate in the open. She had never really thought about how she had wanted her first kiss. Mostly because she never really thought about romance in general.

Jaune chuckled, stealing another little kiss as their lips connected again. "Then that was your second." he said. Ruby's heart fluttered and she embraced him tightly, leaning her head against his chest and let out a happy sigh. Jaune pet her hair like he always did as they embraced like this. But this time, it felt different. It felt free, like the both of them had been in chains for the longest time and they were finally let go. Slowly and reluctantly Ruby let go of Jaune. "We should probably make our way back to the hotel. Tomorrow will probably be a really long day as well." she said, the rationality in her mind overruling her desire to just hold onto Jaune forever in this moment.

Jaune nodded at her and Ruby intertwined their fingers again after locking Crocea Mors on his belt again. With almost a small skip in her step, she made her way towards the entrance of Beacon. Jaune couldn't help but admire her as he trailed behind her. _She tastes like strawberries. Who'd have thunk it._ He thought. However a growing feeling of unease grew on Jaune, and he slowed down as they passed the gates to Beacon. Ruby turned to him and looked confused. "What's wrong?" she asked. Jaune heard glass crack and instantly pulled Ruby to him and unsheathed Crocea Mors to parry the incoming blade.

A 'metallic' clang sounded as Jaune's sword connected with the unknown assailant's blade. Ruby pulled out her scroll and pressed the button for her weapon to be delivered at her location. Out of the shadows stepped a small woman. Her hair was disheveled, her clothing damaged yet Ruby instantly recognized her. "Neo?" she whispered, her eyes growing wide. A wicked smile spread across Neo's lips as she dashed inward again, attempting another strike at Ruby. Jaune blocked it with his shield and attempted to attack back, but she was too fast to hit.

Neo grinned insanely still as her strikes continued, each one harder on Jaune's shield than before, slowly whittling down the warrior as he tried to protect Ruby. Anticipating another slash, he bashed outward with his shield, momentarily stunning Neo as she attempted to strike. Jaune moved to strike her and saw the glass copy shatter before him. Neo had dashed backward and stared Jaune down, her insane grin still persisting. With a heavy crash, Ruby's rocket locker landed. Immediately she took Crescent Rose out from it and placed her heels in it's stead, sending the locker back to it's original position. Flicking a button, the weapons' scope came up and she aimed down towards Neo. Rapidly she fired at Neo, each of the heavy rounds breaking a copy of her.

Ruby quickly reloaded as her ammo depleted, causing Neo to see an opening. Jaune instantly acted upon it, blocking Neo from dashing towards Ruby. With a slash, he interrupted her, followed quickly by a flurry of attacks from Ruby. This didn't do much except for anger the crazed girl. She generated another illusion before darting past Jaune and cut Ruby's cheek. Ruby put her fingers to her cheek to see her fingers stained a deep red as small drops of blood seeped out of the cut.

"Jaune, she's too fast for us to be defensive. We need to go on the offensive." Ruby said, placing her hand on Crescent Rose's bolt again and moving the blade and barrel of her weapon behind her. Jaune nodded, taking a more offensive stance. Ruby disappeared, the rose petals indicating the use of her semblance. Neo looked confused before Ruby appeared before her, causing her eyes to go white with shock. A knowing smirk appeared on Ruby's lips as she started her assault on the smaller woman. Neo blocked most of the attacks with her parasol, however her energy was running out. Using her semblance like she had and the surprising assault from the redhead had left her aura running low. In an attempt to create distance, she kicked towards Ruby who turned Crescent Rose and her feet towards Neo before firing and creating the distance herself. The impact of the bullet caused Neo to stumble and roll across the pavement. Neo grit her teeth as she stood up, she wasn't going to fall here. Not to _her._

Jaune held out his hand and caught Ruby's as she came flying backwards. Ruby hooked Crescent Rose's blade into the ground and used the moment of her flight to circle around and propel Jaune towards Neo. As Jaune came flying in, he pointed his shield forward. Neo once again conjured an illusion and backed up. Jaune made a large crack into the ground as he landed with an impressive force. Neo knew then that she had bitten off more than she could chew, the two being much too strong for her to even consider beating in her current state. She contemplated just fighting to her death, the only reason for her still being alive being the fact that Roman needed vengeance. However, this wouldn't do him or her justice. She conjured up another illusion and ran away from Ruby and Jaune. The illusion looked to engage onto Jaune but splintered as soon as it connected with his shield. In the distance, Ruby and Jaune could see Neo rapidly run off.

With a heavy sigh, Ruby folded in Crescent Rose and held it in one hand. "So.. who was that?" Jaune asked, sliding Crocea Mors' sword back into his folded shield. "She was quite clearly trying to kill you.". Jaune made his way over to Ruby and wiped his thumb over the blood on her cheek. The cut had started to clot, but there was still some remainders of the bleeding due to her fighting. "Her name is Neo. She used to work for Roman before he got eaten by a Griffon." Ruby said, nuzzling into his hand. "She didn't look quite as.. haunting back then.". "Well, let's hope she won't return. And if she does, that we can make sure she doesn't." Jaune said, giving her a smile. Ruby returned the smile with a smaller one before wrapping her arms around Jaune. After a brief moment, Ruby's eyes shone with mischief as she looked at Jaune. The expression quickly turned as she lightly pouted at her partner.

"Can you carry me back? My feet hurt from the lady-stilts." she asked, her voice sweet as honey. Jaune laughed and picked up Ruby in a bridal fashion and made his way back to their hotel.

* * *

After they had returned, Ruby had gone to take a shower. As she let the water pour down onto her, she recollected everything that happened so far. _Beacon, Yang and Dad, Neo.._ Her thoughts summarized, before ending at the most important one. _Jaune.._

Ruby had never thought much about love. She knew that her sister had had a couple of boyfriends, Blake had a thing going with Sun for a short while and Weiss had liked Neptune. But she had never thought much about it herself, especially after starting at Atlas. _Do I love Jaune..?_ Her mind wondered and splashed her face with the warm water. _I do. More than anything. But do I love him like that? As a .._ Ruby's thoughts continued, her mind overcoming the obstacle of naming what they would be. _As a boyfriend?_

Turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower and took one of the towels. _I mean, he's really genuine. And he and I have perfect teamwork. We fit each other perfectly in battle.._ Ruby rationalized in her head while drying her hair. _And we've been together for more than nine years.._

Ruby dried the rest of her body before making her way to the bed and putting on her pyjamas. ' _But do you love him?'_ a doubting voice asked her inside of her mind. With a sigh she sat down on the bed and took her scroll from the nightstand beside it. Ruby flipped through the scroll's contact list and hovered her finger over Yang. She pressed the contact and put the scroll to her ear. After a short while, Yang's voice came through. 'Yello, Rubes! What's up?".

"Hey Yang." Ruby said. "I wanted to talk.. I'm.. having a bit of trouble.". Ruby let herself drop back onto the bed and rubbed her eyes, exhaustion catching up with her. "With what?" Yang said, concern in her voice. "Well. After leaving Patch, Jaune and me got some dinner. After dinner, we went to Beacon and Jaune put Pyrrha's circlet on her statue." Ruby said. "After he climbed down he.. kissed me.".

After a short moment of silence Yang yelled excitedly into her scroll. "How was it?! How was it!" she repeated. "Yang, please, I'm dealing with a problem here." Ruby pleaded. She could almost see the smirk Yang had through the scroll, even without using the camera. "Really now? Tall, blonde and muscled is a problem?" Yang said, amusement apparent in her tone.

"Yang, please. Serious time." Ruby asked again. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. So what's the problem then? You don't really seem too much bothered by the kiss itself." Yang replied, her excitement having died down a little, but she still sounded very joyful.

"That's because it's not the kiss that bothers me. It was my first, but it was great. As if I instinctively knew what to do. It just felt right. But.." Ruby said, trailing off her words as she contemplated her next ones. "But what?" Yang asked, a little more concern now. "Something in me is doubting whether I love him, in such a way I mean." Ruby said, closing her eyes. A loud and long scoff could be heard from Yang's end, causing Ruby to open her eyes again and raise an eyebrow at the sound.

"Yang, you okay there?" Ruby asked after the sound died down. "Alright sis, listen up and listen closely. You love tall, blonde and muscled. You might not know it yourself, but do you think there might be a reason dad and me reacted like we did?" Yang said, her voice warming. "When I saw the two of you, I could only think back to when dad and Summer were together, you know. You look almost the same as her and .. well, Jaune is blonde. But that's not what I mean. It's that same reliance and trust in each other that I could see in you and Jaune in only the few hours we had." Yang continued.

"But Jaune still loves Pyrrha." Ruby quickly said, attempting to rationalize her fears with what Jaune had said to her. Yang only chuckled. "If he kissed you, it means he has moved on, Rubes. The thing that remains then is why you're still doubting whether or not you love him or not while you clearly do. And I can solve that with a very simple question." Yang said. "Could you imagine living in a world without him?". _Could you imagine living in a world without him?_ Yang's words resounded in Ruby's head. And suddenly it was very simple. _I can't._ She answered mentally. "No." Ruby whispered into her scroll. "No, I can't."

With a small laugh, Yang responded. "Then you have your answer, don't you? Now go get him sis.". Ruby smiled at the ceiling as all her doubt was washed away, the voice in her head doubting her heart disappearing as quickly as it had come. "Thanks Yang. I love you." she said. "Don't tell me that, you doofus. Just kidding, Rubes. Love you too." Yang joked before hanging up her scroll. Ruby held her scroll to her heart as she let the conversation with Yang settle in her mind. Her doubts about Jaune and her were gone now, only replaced with unbridled excitement and joy. She sat up again, took one of her pillows and her scroll and walked to the door into the hallway. Crossing it, she knocked on Jaune's door and waited, nearly unable to contain her excitement.

After a short moment, Jaune opened the door and immediately Ruby jumped towards him, flinging her arms around his neck and placing her lips on his. Jaune closed the door as the impact of Ruby staggered him backwards, and wrapped his arms around her. After a short stumble, the both of them fell over laughing onto the bed, Ruby's pillow falling near Jaune's. Ruby nuzzled her nose against Jaune's, her hair draping over the both of them and shielding both them from the light in the room. Silently, the two stared into each other's eyes, admiring all they found in their significant other's. "I love you, Jaune." Ruby whispered. Jaune cupped her cheek with one hand, the other gently caressing her back. "I love you too, Ruby." he responded. Passionately Ruby placed her lips on Jaune's who returned the kiss in kind.

Both Jaune and Ruby were going on instinct now, following their own hearts as it guided them to each other and deepened the kiss. An eternity later, Ruby disconnected her lips from Jaune's and rest her head on Jaune's chest, only now noticing it to be bare. "No baby blue pyjamas?" Ruby joked, breathing in deep to regain some of the air she lost in the kiss. "It's in the wash." Jaune halfheartedly replied. Ruby closed her eyes and listened to Jaune's heart thump peacefully and reveled in the feeling of his chest rising and falling with each breath. His hand ran through her hair and gave her goosebumps as he seemed to make everything in her relax.

Yang's words rang through her mind once again. _Could you imagine living in a world without him?_ Ruby pushed herself off his chest a bit and looked up towards Jaune, meeting his gaze once again. _I love Jaune. He deserves to know exactly how much._ A smile appeared on her lips. "I'm sorry for not coming sooner. I was doubting myself." Ruby said. Jaune looked up at her curiously. "I was confused. I didn't really know what you meant to me, and I hadn't ever had to think about it. It was just you and me at Atlas. It was all I knew." she continued. Jaune looked a little more worried now, however Ruby gave him a warming smile. "But when you kissed me, it all kind of made sense. Why we work together so well. Why I am so comfortable with you. It's because I love you Jaune. I couldn't imagine my life without you." Ruby said, smiling broadly at him still. "And I couldn't fathom my life without you Ruby." Jaune replied and caressed the healed cut on her cheek with his thumb.

Ruby laid her head on his chest again and sighed happily, returning to listen to the music of Jaune's heart. Slowly, she felt her eyes become heavy and placed a kiss on his chest before drifting off to sleep. For the first time in a long time, she felt completely at peace. _You are my world now, Jaune._


	7. Chapter 7: Moving Forward

**This story has now got 56 Favorites and 102 Followers. It's amazing to see this many people having an interest in the story. Because of getting a 100 follows, I want to do something for this as I've started to get stuck in some of the set-up for the main chapter and could use a break to just all out on a little one-shot.**

 **To vote on what you'd like to see, please go to the following link (obviously, replace the characters written out):**

 **strawpoll (period) me**

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 **Voting shall be stopped at Sunday the 28th of February. So please, put in your vote before then!**

 **Ego-caressing "oh my god people read my stuff" out of the way. I had quite some troubles with this chapter. I am still not 100% satisfied with it, so I might retouch this one sooner than others. I also tried to incorporate 's feedback about the fragmenting of the speech of characters. Let me know if it works or doesn't, it's always awesome to see the reviews.**

 **Anyway, here is Chapter 7 : Moving Forward.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Moving Forward

When Ruby woke up, it was the most peaceful she had been in years, the warmth embracing her whole as Jaune had covered them with the blanket. Ruby nuzzled once more into Jaune's chest and looked up at him, taking in every feature of his sleeping face. Satisfied with the picture in her head, she got up from the bed. After a brief moment, she found her scroll and opened it up. Ruby chuckled a little when she saw they had slept way past noon. _So much for grabbing breakfast together._

Ruby walked towards the window of the room and opened the curtains, letting the sun in. She smiled as she looked down on the street, the people happily making their way through it. A groan alerted Ruby of her partner. She turned around to walk to Jaune, finding him having pulled in the blanket and turning away from the light.

"Five more minutes." he sighed, his eyes still closed. Ruby smiled before pulling the blanket away off of him.

"It's already midday. As much as I'd like to just lay in bed all day, you wanted to meet up with Ren and Nora. This our last day of 'leave', remember?" Ruby said, still holding the blanket. Jaune sighed in defeat and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah. You're right." he said, pushing himself off of the bed.

"I'll see you in a couple of minutes okay?" Ruby said, giving Jaune a soft kiss before making her way across the hallway again to her own room. After freshening herself up, Ruby put on her usual attire and slid Crescent Rose into the rack on her waist. As she went to finish her attire by donning the red cloak she always wore, she couldn't help but grasp it and smile at it for a moment. _Mom._ she thought, memories of her mother returning to her. But for once, the memories it evoked in her didn't make her sad. Instead, a warmth filled her and caused her to smile.

 _I hope that wherever you are Mom, you're proud._ Ruby thought and donned the cloak, pinning it to her outfit with the small crosses. A beeping noise caught her attention and reactionally she took the scroll out of her pocket. An unknown sender had sent her a message. Curiously, Ruby opened the message.

'Ruby.

Some new information about Disturbances, got go ahead to lend you and Jaune for mission. Talk tomorrow morning, at 6.

Q'

Ruby sighed and rolled her eyes at the last line of the message and put the scroll away. She'd tell Jaune about it later. For now, they'd need to talk with Ren and Nora. Ruby stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her tightly. As she turned around, Ruby was startled as was Jaune leaning against the wall next to her door with a smug grin on his face. Playfully Ruby hit his shoulder causing the both of them to laugh.

"Scared the heck out of me. So. You ready to go?" Ruby asked.

"Yep." Jaune replied, "I just got a message from Ren with the address, so now we know where to actually go.".

Ruby smiled at him. "Well then, let's go."

* * *

After a short walk, the both of them had made their way to Ren and Nora's house. Jaune grinned as he walked towards the door and rang the doorbell. A stumbling could be heard from beyond the door and slowly the door opened. Ren stood in the doorway, smiling at Jaune. He mostly still wore the traditional outfit he still had, but his hair had become significantly longer.

"Hey Jaune, it's good to see you again." Ren said and held his arms open.

Jaune quickly hugged Ren and smiled as he let go. "Good to see you again as well, Ren.".

Jaune stepped inside and put Crocea Mors against the wall. Ruby hugged Ren tight as well. "Hello Ren. Long time no see." she said and let go of him.

"Same to you Ruby. It's been quite a while hasn't it?" Ren said and laughed a little.

Ruby looked at Ren's face and saw a type of exhaustion in him. "Ren, you okay? You look kind of tired." Ruby inquired and raised an eyebrow at him.

Ren only laughed a little. "Just follow me." he said and turned to walk to the living room. Ruby quickly unhooked Crescent Rose from her back and placed it next to Crocea Mors.

As they entered the living room, they could a pair of legs dangling over the edge of an overturned sofa. "Who's Mommy's _awesome_ little boy? You are! Yes you are!" Nora excitedly said. A child's laugh could be heard, confusing Jaune and Ruby.

"Nora, Nemory. Jaune and Ruby are here." Ren calmly spoke, looking at Jaune and Ruby with a knowing smile.

With a push off the ground, Nora put the sofa upright and smiled as she came up holding a small boy. His hair was black but had Nora's eyes and face. The boy ran out of Nora's arms to Jaune and hugged his legs.

"Hello uncle Jaune!" he said, shooting a bright smile up at Jaune.

Jaune smiled back and pet his hair. "Hello there little guy, what did your dad say your name was?" Jaune said and kneeled down to Nemory's level.

"Nemory!" he excitedly replied.

 _Must have Nora's personality._ Jaune thought and smiled. "Well, good to finally meet you, Nemory."

Ruby was taken aback by the fact that Ren and Nora had a child. Then all of a sudden she was tackled against the ground by Nora whom hugged her tightly.

"Hey there Ruby!" Nora said, a large grin plastered on her face.

"Uhm.. Hey Nora." Ruby awkwardly said, patting the redhead's back.

Ruby 'oomphed' as another weight was put on her, Nemory's head popping up in view just alongside his mother's. "Hello!" he said, grinning at Ruby.

Ren laughed a little as he picked up Nemory when Nora moved to stand up. Ruby pushed herself up onto her knees and ruffled the boy's hair. "Hello there, Nemory. My name is Ruby." Ruby said, smiling warmly at the boy.

"Your name is pretty! Do you fight monsters too?" Nemory asked, a spark of admiration in his eyes as he looked at Ruby.

"Yes, I do. Me and Jaune have fought a whole bunch of monsters." Ruby said, chuckling lightly.

"Like, Ten?!" the boy said, awestruck at the heroes before him.

Ruby placed her hand over her mouth to not break out into full laughter. _He's just simply adorable._ She thought before finally fighting off her laugh. "Yes. Like ten. Even more than that!" Ruby said, trying to mirror his excitement.

Nemory looked at Ruby with his mouth agape in amazement. "Awesome!" he shouted, running to Nora who had made her way to stand beside Ren, the enormous grin still on her face.

"Yep! Although she's even more awesome because she went to Atlas, as did Jaune! Atlas is like a super-duper-awesome-cool place!" Nora said. Again, admiration shone in Nemory's eyes as he switched his gaze between Ruby and Jaune.

Ren cleared his throat a bit before looking at Nora. "I still have to get groceries for dinner, so I'm going to be out for those." he said. Instantly, Nemory turned to look at Ren.

"Can I come daddy?" he said, attempting his best to look with pleading eyes at his father. Ren laughed a little at that.

"Well, you'll have to ask mommy as well." he said and winked at Nora. Nora giggled as she immediately understood Ren. Nemory looked at Nora with the same gaze.

"Please, Mommy?" he begged, Nora giving him a skeptical look with a hum.

"You can go.. If you can put on your shoes and coat by yourself!" Nora said. Nemory smiled at her and turned to run to the hallway again, causing all of them to laugh.

"Jaune, mind coming with?" Ren asked.

"Sure thing." Jaune quickly replied, giving a small wave to Ruby as he was leaving the living room. Ruby mouthed 'I love you' to him, hoping he would notice it. A wink confirmed Jaune had and made her all warm inside.

Nemory once again came running back into the room, his summer coat and shoes on. "See mommy, I didn't need any help!" he said, grinning at Nora in pride.

"Aw yeah! Give me a high five, Nemory!" Nora said, crouching down and holding up her hand. Nemory gave a quick high-five, after which Nora hugged him tightly.

"I love you. Now don't be too mean to Daddy and uncle Jaune okay?" Nora said and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Okay Mommy, bye bye!" Nemory quickly said, before making his way back to the hallway.

Ruby could only keep up her smile at what she had just witnessed. _Who knew that Nora would be such an excellent mother? Yang won't believe it, that's for certain._ She thought. With a small sigh, Ruby sat down on the sofa.

"See you in a bit Nora, Ruby." Ren said from the doorway from the hallway. The door shut with a thud that could be heard from the living room. Nora sighed happily before letting herself fall down in a chair. Instantly, she shot a mischievous look at Ruby.

Ruby noticed quite quickly. "What's up Nora?" she quickly asked, her voice shaking a bit under the unnerving gaze of Nora.

"Oh nothing.. except for you and Jaune being totes in love." Nora said, wiggling her eyebrows at her.

Ruby could only respond with a sigh. "Yes. Me and Jaune have a thing…".

"You didn't pass the Nora-certified-vote-for-confidence-to-date-Jaune test yet." Nora said, the grin growing wider and wider.

"I .. uhh.. didn't know I needed to do that." Ruby said, clearly confused at Nora's mention of such a test.

"Ruby Esmeralda Rose!" Nora started and stood up, pointing her finger down at Ruby.

"I don't have a middle name.. And I'm fairly certain if I did, it wouldn't be Esmeralda." Ruby quickly interjected, her confusion only growing more.

"Shhh. Not important." Nora continued, "I need to know only one thing of you for you to pass the test!".

Ruby raised an eyebrow at the quirky redhead but laughed a little. "Well, what do you need to know?" she asked.

"Do you love Jaune?" Nora asked. Ruby honestly felt slightly let down at the question, the whole buildup dramatic enough to warrant something more.

"Yes." Ruby said, smiling at Nora.

"Okay. Cool. You passed." Nora said and fell down in the chair again.

"That.. that was it?" Ruby asked, still surprised.

"Yup. Just needed to look you in the eye when you said it to know if it was true. I'm happy for you two." Nora said, flashing a genuine smile at Ruby.

"I'm happy for you two - well, three, I guess - too. When did you and Ren..?" Ruby said, letting her last words trail off, hoping for Nora to fill in the blanks.

"Do the dirty deed? Baked a potato? Did the hanky-panky? Bumped uglies?" Nora filled in, a smirk on her lips as she spoke. Ruby's face flushed red as she did not expect the euphemisms Nora used.

"Not.. what I was thinking of." Ruby said, shaking her head in attempt to get her head straight again. "I meant more like, started a family.".

"Ooooh.. when I became Mrs. Lie? And when we had Nemory?" Nora asked. Ruby nodded at her and Nora continued, "Well. Mrs. Lie was like.. sheesh, four years after you guys left? Things were looking good and Ren came up to me and was like 'Yeah we've been together forever, I love you, marry me.'. It was _amazingly awesome_ I tell you." Nora smiled as she remembered the things that had happened through the years. "Nemory was a bit of a surprise at first. I think that was about two years after our marriage. But it's all been great. We were ready and you know, it's amazing to have like a .. mini-me. I love him to death." Nora said, looking at Ruby again and smiled genuinely.

"What about you and Jaune?" Nora asked. Ruby sighed and gave Nora an apologetic look.

"Last night. We went to Beacon so Jaune could put Pyrrha's circlet on the statue. After he climbed down, he kissed me." Ruby said. Nora was sitting on the edge of her seat listening to her talk and grinning the whole time, the grin broadening even more."I do think I've been feeling it longer though. I just never paid any attention to it." Ruby continued.

"Oh yeah. You just won me fifty lien, Ruby!" Nora said excitedly, kicking her legs out as she let herself fall into the chair again.

"What, you and Ren were betting on me and Jaune becoming a thing?" Ruby asked disbelievingly. When she received no word from Nora, Ruby's expression turned to disbelief. "Wait, you did?"

Nora laughed awkwardly. "Oops?" she said, shrugging her shoulders.

* * *

"Nemory's grown quite a lot since last time I got a photo from you." Jaune said, smiling as Ren and Jaune made their way through the park towards the market, Nemory walking a short distance ahead of them on the paved paths.

"Yes he did.. It's like having two Nora's at home now." Ren joked, the empty shopping bag around his shoulder and his hands in his pockets. His eyes constantly followed Nemory, making sure his son was okay.

Jaune laughed a little and stuffed his hands in his pockets as well. "So. Ruby and me are a thing now." he said, eliciting a groan from Ren. Jaune raised his eyebrow at him before finding out the reason by himself. "Bet?" he asked.

"Bet." Ren answered, the both of them laughing again. "So, I assume you've confronted your feelings about Pyrrha then?" Ren said, shooting his friend a quick glance of concern.

Jaune nodded. "Yeah. I've accepted it. I for once took your advice, even though I can't remember it fully." Jaune said.

"Keep Moving Forward." Ren stated. "That's what I told you. That whatever happens and whatever has happened, you have to keep moving forward. And don't let anything stop you from achieving what you want." Ren continued as they entered the market and Nemory joined them again.

"Daddy, let's hurry! The shops are closing soon!" Nemory said, a hint of concern in his excited voice.

"Well, guess we've gotta hurry." Ren said and took a hold of Nemory's hand.

* * *

A while later, the five of them had eaten their dinner. Shortly after, as evening approached, Nora had gone upstairs to put Nemory to bed as Ren, Jaune and Ruby still remained in the living room to finish the evening off with a warm drink. "So.. I was wondering.. what is it you two do right now?" Ruby asked Ren before taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, I'm a history teacher at Beacon. Nora is the combat instructor there for two days each week." Ren said, sipping a bit of his tea. "It's so we can spend optimal time with Nemory while still providing a lot for Beacon."

"Yeah, and kick butt everywhere!" Nora said as she entered the living room again and sat down next to Ren on the sofa and leaned against him. "So, what brings you two 'legends' to Vale anyway? Except for visiting us of course." she continued, using a heavy dose of sarcasm as she spoke.

"It's pretty hush-hush. But we're here for some Grimm and White Fang disturbances. I trust you two to not go around telling everyone that there might be something happening in the shadows." Jaune said.

Ruby was hesitating whether or not to scold Jaune for just leaking something like this, but she figured Nora and Ren deserved to know. Not only as teachers at Beacon, but also as previous teammates. _Qrow would have probably told them in time anyway_. Ruby rationalized. _And it's not like we're saying anything at all. I mean, the walls just prove that they're well aware of the Grimm threat._

"So, basically just general Atlas stuff? Or whatever you do with that?" Ren asked, causing both Ruby and Jaune to nod.

"Today was our last day of official leave. So then we'll have to get back to work." Ruby said, finishing the coffee in her mug. "But I'm sure we'll try and come back soon. It's been really great being back in Vale.".

"Yeah. And it's been great seeing you two do just absolutely awesome. Not to mention that Ren is still an amazing cook." Jaune said, causing Ren to shyly rub his neck.

"But unfortunately, we have to be up at six in the morning tomorrow. It might be best if we just get back to our hotel so we can get some rest." Ruby said.

"Awww.." Nora whined, before perking up again. "Oh well. You'll just have to come back again some other time. Sometime really soon!"

A laugh was shared among them again. "Yeah. We promise we'll come by sometime soon." Jaune said.

* * *

After their goodbyes, Ruby and Jaune made their way back to the hotel. Silently, they walked on the streets and alleyways. Holding hands and fingers intertwined, they felt comfort already in each other's presence, no need to speak after the energy Nora had shown to still possess.

When they reached the hotel and got to their rooms, they quickly changed to their pyjamas and Ruby made her way to Jaune's room. Crawling into the bed, Ruby making sure the time was set to make their meeting with Qrow. Small kisses on her head disturbed her as she was still configuring the alarms on her scroll. She looked up to Jaune and smiled, finishing the last alarm and putting her scroll on the nightstand before embracing him and nuzzling her face into his chest again.

As her face touched the fabric of the blue footie pajamas, Ruby couldn't help but laugh. Jaune wiggled his eyebrows at her, only adding more to the laughter.

"What, is this not making your desire for me nearly impossible to control?" Jaune asked and feigning hurt in his voice.

As Ruby's laughter died down she gently held Jaune's cheek before giving him a kiss. "Goodnight, my sweet prince." she said, after letting her lips disconnect from Jaune's.

"Goodnight, my precious Rose." Jaune said and pulled the light on his nightstand, enveloping the room in darkness.


	8. Chapter 8: Deployment

**So. I'm sorry for being a little slow this week. Between my studies, my new job and the fact that my girlfriend is leaving for Italy on Monday for 5 months, I have been quite tired. I've only been able to manage to work on the story in the later hours of the night instead of times where I am actually properly functional. Luckily, I'll have this week off of my studies (mostly, still got stuff to do + a new roommate moving in!) and will spend my time writing the 100 follower one-shot (so far it's looking like a Fluff one-shot! Make more fuzzy.) and starting to get the overarching plot rolling. You can still vote for what you'd like to see until Monday 6 PM CEST. I've moved it because my girlfriend will be flying then.**

 **If you still want to vote, go to :**

 **(slash)** **6913022**

 **So, I've hit 120 follows now. I still get surprised everytime I see a message of someone following or favoriting the story. Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside and helps me get through a week like this. But, I've rambled enough.**

 **Without further ado; Chapter 8: Deployment.**

* * *

Chapter 8: Deployment

The angry buzz of the alarm on Ruby's scroll awoke her. With a groan, she opened her eyes and took the scroll from the nightstand, opening it and disabling the alarm. Ruby threw her feet over the edge of the bed and stood up. She turned to look at the bed again, a peaceful Jaune still sleeping in it. With a smile on her lips, Ruby sat down on the bed and tapped Jaune's leg.

Jaune stirred as he felt Ruby's taps and cracked open his eyes to see Ruby sitting next to him with a smile. He stretched his arms and smiled at her. "Good morning." he said and gently put his hand on hers before caressing it with his thumb.

"Good morning." Ruby said, small goosebumps forming on her arms from the small caresses. "We should get ready. Qrow wanted to talk with us, and that's an hour from now."

"So? That means we still have about.. Twenty minutes to cuddle." Jaune sighed, giving Ruby a warm smile.

Ruby laughed a little before leaning down and giving him a kiss on the lips. Jaune's other hand gently cupped Ruby's cheek as she did so. After a moment, Ruby disconnected from Jaune's lips, her cheeks slightly flushed. "I still have to get dressed and everything." she said, shooting Jaune a sly smirk. "Not everyone can just roll out of bed and look as handsome as you do."

"It's a gift." Jaune joked, putting a hand to his chest dramatically.

Ruby hit Jaune's chest playfully before standing up again. "Just get dressed so we can get some breakfast together, okay? I'll see you in a couple of minutes." Ruby said and left to her own room to get dressed.

* * *

Weiss walked towards the large tower of Beacon. It had been quite a while since she had been here. But at her sister's insistence she had come here. She never had the intention to return to Beacon, only Vale had her interest in the search for her old teammates. _I guess visiting Winter can't hurt. Although after this I really need to start working on finding Ruby, Yang or Blake._ She thought to herself as she stepped into the elevator.

A tone indicated she had reached the office of the new Headmaster, where she had promised to meet her sister. When the doors opened, she was a familiar man staring out the window.

"Qrow..?" Weiss asked, causing the man to turn around and shoot her a small smirk.

"Oh, hello there Ice Princess. You're right on time." he said, taking a sip from the flask he always had with him.

Weiss could only sigh as she looked at him taking a drink from the flask. "After all these years, still a hopeless drunk." she said, rolling her eyes at him.

"On the contrary. There is water in this thing. Can't really go against the wishes of my wife." he said, sitting down at the desk. Weiss held her hand on one of the chairs close to desk, and peered at him.

"You, of all people, got married?" she asked, clearly unimpressed. In all honesty, Weiss nearly felt sorry for the woman he'd managed to snag.

"What can I say, I am a hopeless romantic. Speaking of my wife, here she comes now." Qrow replied, the sarcasm heavy in his tone. His smirk grew as he looked past Weiss. Weiss turned her gaze to where he was looking and her heart dropped.

"Winter?!" Weiss nearly screamed, causing her sister to look at her with eyebrows raised. Weiss turned her gaze to Qrow again. "You're married to my sister?!" she said, her tone filled with malice. Qrow only grinned at Weiss before a short slap on the back of the head from Winter stopped it.

"Yes, Weiss. I am married to Qrow. Father doesn't know, he probably wouldn't care. But you're here for other reasons, right?" Winter said, her tone cold.

"No, hold up! I am not just accepting the fact that you married.. well.. him!" Weiss said, the look of disbelief still lingering on her face.

"Told you she wouldn't take it well." Qrow remarked, only to be given a tap at the back of his head again. "Hey, hey! Save that for the bedroom." he said, shooting Winter a smirk. Winter only groaned in response.

"Weiss. There are more important things right now. We can talk about this later. But right now, you are looking for something we have." Winter said with a stern tone.

Weiss was about to respond but promptly stopped. _Something they have.. They have Ruby, Yang and Blake?_ she thought as she looked her sister in the eye in an attempt to find what her sister was saying.

"You know where I can find them, don't you?" Weiss said after having analyzed the words over and over. Winter nodded.

"Yes. However, you won't have to find them." Winter said, a small smile on her lips.

* * *

After a short walk, Jaune and Ruby had made their way to Beacon once again. In the distance, Ruby could see the yellow of her sister. "Yang!" Ruby called out, causing Yang to look up and around herself before finally spotting Ruby. Yang waved back at Ruby with her right hand, causing Ruby to smile.

When Jaune and Ruby had gotten closer, Ruby was quickly embraced by her sister. Ruby briefly hugged back before stepping away. "What brings you here, Yang?" Ruby asked, looking at her sister with slight confusion.

"Uncle Qrow wanted me to come. Something about a job or something." Yang said and shrugged.

Ruby and Jaune quickly looked at each other to confirm each other's thoughts on it. Something was up and the both of them knew it. Ruby broke her gaze at Jaune and looked at Yang. "Well, that sounds great Yang! We're on our way as well. Qrow said he had some information about the disturbances we're supposed to check." Ruby said, continuing her way to the tower along with Yang and Jaune.

"Well, that's awfully coincidental. That the both of us are here at the same time." Yang said, not delving deeping into it's meaning. After a moment of walking, Yang hit her elbow against Jaune's in order to get his attention. "So Jaune. How's my sister as a lover?" Yang said with a mocking tone.

Jaune just stared at Yang in disbelief. "I, uhh. Well. We haven't done it. How did you even know we were together?" Jaune said, stammering the words as he spoke.

Ruby was blushing as hard as she could ever do, her face red with embarrassment and shame. She tried her best to give Yang a look that could kill in order to make her drop the subject, but Yang seemed only encouraged by it.

"Well, it was kind of obvious you would become a couple. But seriously, I mean, I thought you wouldn't be able to kee-" Yang continued before promptly stopped by Ruby's hands on her mouth.

"Please, Yang. Don't continue. This whole love thing is new to me as could be and I am _not_ going to rush anything." Ruby said, her tone nearly pleading instead of firm. Jaune nodded at Yang to show his agreement with Ruby's statement.

Yang peeled the hands off of her mouth. "Fine, fine. I was only joking. Jeez. Relax a little, Rubes, you giant prude." she said and smiled at Ruby. Together they entered the elevator and after a short while, it stopped at Qrow's office.

Ruby stepped out happily, immediately looking towards the desk for her uncle. However, she was greeted by someone all too familiar to her. "Hello Ruby." Weiss said, a certain warmth in her tone.

Ruby was taken aback for a moment and could only stare at her previous partner. After blinking a couple of times, her voice could only crack a bit as she responded to her previous partner. "Hello.. Weiss.." Ruby managed to finally breathe out.

Yang looked past Ruby to see Weiss and held up her right hand to greet her. "Hey there Weiss! Haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been?"

"I've been well, thank you Yang. How have you been?" Weiss asked, looking at Yang. She quickly saw the prosthetic and the barrel just on the top of it.

"I've been doing well, especially after Ruby came back." Yang said and followed Weiss's eyes to her hand, holding it up again. "Ruby made it." Yang answered.

Weiss turned to look at Ruby again and shot her a smile. Ruby took off running and crashed into Weiss in a tight hug, not able to keep in the joy of seeing her friend again. Together they fell over, stumbling against the desk with a heavy thud.

"Weiss, it's so great to see you again." Ruby said under her breath, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "I tried to contact you at Atlas.. but you were always out of reach." Ruby continued, tightening her grip a little more.

Weiss was taken aback by the prompt tackle-hug at first, but returned it either way. "It's good to see you again too Ruby. I had no idea you actually went to Atlas, though." she said, and raised a curious eyebrow at Ruby.

Ruby let go of Weiss and sat down on her knees. "What do you mean? Me and Jaune went to Atlas. We tried so hard to try and get you to notice us while we were there, but there was always some form of guard around." Ruby said.

Weiss could only feel fury. _Probably 'Father's' doing. Can't believe the arrogant fool._ She thought and grit her teeth. "Yes. That would probably have been my father. I actually came to Vale to find you and Yang, but Winter wanted me to come here first." Weiss said, standing up and brushing the dust off of herself. "I guess Qrow and her have other plans." she continued as she took the chair to stand up again.

Ruby looked at Weiss and found she hadn't changed much through the years. The scar on her eye was still prominently on display. The shorter white combat skirt outfit Weiss usually wore was now replaced by a more elegant and longer skirt together with a sleeveless top, both white as snow. She finished it with a unbuttoned trench coat hanging loosely over her shoulders and Myrtenaster hidden underneath it at her hip. What was remarkable, was the fact that there was not a single symbol of her family to be found on her. Even the tiara she usually wore was not present, replaced by interwoven silver instead to keep the knot of her braid together.

Yang and Jaune had made their way closer to Ruby and Weiss now. Jaune smiled with amusement as he helped Ruby up and shot Weiss a smile. Weiss peered at him for a moment, before finally realizing who the blonde haired _man_ was. ".. Jaune?" Weiss hesitantly asked.

"In the living." he replied, amusement in his tone.

Ruby quickly interlaced her fingers with Jaune's and smiled at Weiss. "Me and Jaune have stuck together ever since getting to Atlas.".

Weiss raised her eyebrows at the unusual display of affection of Ruby to Jaune before she connected the dots again and smiled at the both of them. "Oh. I see. I didn't recognize you, Jaune. You're a lot more.." Weiss said, trailing off her words as she sought for the description of Jaune's current form.

"Handsome? Muscled? Dreamy?" Yang attempted to fill in for Weiss with a large smirk.

"I was going to say mature and less scraggly, but okay, I guess." Weiss said.

Ruby only rolled her eyes at Yang with Jaune laughing awkwardly beside her. A hard tapping on the floor caused the four of them to turn around and look at the source of the sound, finding Qrow standing there with his weapon tapping the floor gently.

"Good, now that I have your attention, you're probably all confused as to why you are all here." Qrow said, amusement in his tone as he looked at the four of them with a grin. The grin however faded quickly as he continued. "Unfortunately, the war we fought ten years ago has never stopped. Jaune and Ruby have been at the forefront of that as specialists. Vale is a great example as well. Outside of the walls, the Grimm are continuously drawn to the school because of the Wyvern.".

Qrow took a large swig from his flask as he looked out the window. "Now, the city is safe. But the White Fang is still operative as well." he said, turning around again and looking at the four near his desk. "And this time, we won't sit by and wait for them to attack us. Just like me back then, I have my operatives. And one of those operatives has now found the base where Cinder is." Qrow said.

Immediately, the four held their breath. Qrow peered at Ruby and continued. "Cinder's weakened. Whatever you did to her took a great toll on her, but she still runs things from behind the scenes." Qrow said and leaned against the window, crossing his arms. "Now, I want you four to go tie that loose end up together with my operative.".

The four looked at each other. Ruby then turned to look at her uncle. "Why us?" she asked, her voice a little lower in volume than usual.

"Because you know how she fights. Because you know you can beat her." Qrow said before shifting his gaze to Jaune. "And because you deserve revenge." Qrow finished. Jaune peered at Qrow and simply nodded.

Weiss perked up as her thoughts settled. "Then who's this operative? If he or she is going to fight with us, how do we know we can trust him or her? Your word?" she asked.

Qrow chuckled in response. "Don't you worry about that now. You'll find out that you four will get along with who I am talking about just fine. Maybe some difficulty in the beginning, but hey, nobody's perfect." he said and took a deep breath.

"There'll be a Atlas ship ready if you agree. Get whatever you need and get on it. Cinder won't stay at the base forever, and I've spent enough time gathering you all for the opportunity to slip by." Qrow said, his tone more commanding now.

"I'll go." Yang immediately said. "I wanted adventure and guessing by what you've told me, I might be able to find Raven this way. It's a step forward, at the very least." Yang said, voicing her reason.

"Well, it's our mission to go fight Cinder, if she's the one causing the disturbances. So we'll be coming without a doubt." Jaune said and looked at Ruby, who nodded at him in agreement.

"Well, I came looking for my old teammates. It'd be a shame if I abandoned them the minute we are required." Weiss said, sighing softly to herself.

"So that means you'll.." Ruby started, before Weiss interjected with a soft sigh. "Yes. That means I'll come too." Weiss finished, returning a smile Ruby gave her.

"Then it's settled. Be at the airship port as soon as you can. After you leave, Ruby will have command. The rest of the information will be from the operative, so I can't tell you anything about what to prepare for." Qrow said and ran his hand through his hair and looked stern upon the huntresses and hunter before him. "So be prepared for anything."

* * *

It hadn't taken long before the four of them made their way to the airship and had started their journey to the base. The Atlesian ship had plenty of room. Ruby was finalizing the checks on Crescent Rose, making sure it was in perfect shape for the upcoming battle. She had cleaned everything meticulously, the weapon nearly looking as new. A beep from her scroll broke her trance however and she took it out of one of the pockets on her skirt. Penny popped up instantly.

"Salutations Ruby! General Ironwood wishes you luck with the mission at hand. I actually am here to deliver a message to Jaune, however I've been told Jaune knows what it's about." Penny said, her excitement nearly infectious. "It's fairly cryptic." Penny continued, her tone more confused now.

"Sure thing Penny. What is the message?" Ruby asked.

" 'The Trinity is finished.' " Penny 'said', actually replaying the words of Ironwood himself.

"Okay..? I'll tell Jaune that." Ruby said. In the back of her mind she was trying to figure out what it meant. After a brief moment, she decided she would just ask Jaune.

"Sensational! I hope to speak to you soon, friend Ruby. However for now I shall leave you to your mission! Goodbye!" the animated girl said before disappearing as a blip on her scroll. Ruby smiled and put away her scroll as Jaune approached her and sat down next to her.

"I think Crescent Rose is plenty clean now Ruby. We're almost there by the way. Yang was calibrating her arm. I'm not quite sure what Weiss was doing however. It seemed like some sort of ritual." Jaune said as he sat down beside her and leaned his head against the wall.

"Okay." Ruby said, slapping the bolt on Crescent Rose to put it in its proper position. "Penny just sent a message from Ironwood. 'The Trinity is finished.' " Ruby continued, looking at Jaune with a questioning gaze. "What does that mean, Jaune? He said you would know." she asked.

Jaune chuckled and looked Ruby in the eyes. "It means I'll be able to completely move forward, Ruby." he said and softly kissed her on the lips. "Now come on. We are probably quite close to the drop zone."

After a lengthy journey, the four of them landed in a forest Ruby guessed was east of the mountains in the center of Vale. Aside from the clearing they were standing in, the trees and foliage completely covered the sun from coming through.

"Right. Let's find Qrow's 'operative'" Ruby said, taking Crescent Rose from her back and extending the stock of her weapon to make a more effective rifle.

Jaune however interjected quickly. "I'll be with you guys in a moment. I still have something incoming." he said and tapped a button on his scroll. "I've got your guys' locations on my scroll. I'll catch up." he said and flashed a smile towards Ruby, Weiss and Yang.

Ruby sighed, however accepted that whatever his reason would be, it would be valid enough. She walked up to Jaune and gave him a tight embrace followed by a passionate kiss. "Be safe, okay? See you in a bit." Ruby said, holding his cheek.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Jaune said and smiled at her before letting her go.

Ruby sighed then turned around. "Okay, let's go. Follow me until we get to the operative's location."

* * *

Using their trained speed, the three made their way quickly through the forest. "So. Where was this operative supposed to be?" Weiss asked, skillfully dodging the thick tree trunks and foliage in their way as she followed Ruby.

"Should be coming up on it now." Ruby said and slowed down. Ruby scanned her scroll and found a small spot clear of all the foliage to be their destination. The three of them ground to a halt at it, dust and dirt flying up from the sudden stopping.

"So, where's the operative then?" Yang asked, looking around her.

A twig broke, all three turning their attention at the sudden sound and taking stances to get ready for a fight. However behind them, a soft thud came. Yang turned around first, only to feel her heart drop as she looked at the one person she had needed most.

"Blake..?" Yang breathed, her eyes filling with tears.

"Hello Yang."


	9. Chapter 9: Conflict

**Okay! The Strawpoll is done! This week I'll be writing a nice fluffy one-shot starring Jaune and Ruby! (what a surprise that that was the highest vote. Lancaster ho?). My girlfriend left for Italy however I have a new roommate moving in this week so that might hinder my time. We'll see! I'm determined to finish it this week. Thanks again for reading the story, it really motivates me to keep on writing.**

 **I present to you; Chapter 9 - Conflict.**

* * *

Chapter 9: Conflict

The four former teammates stood frozen as they looked at each other. Yang kept her arm leveled at Blake as angry tears rushed from her eyes. "Why..?" Yang asked, her eyes full of anger and pain.

Blake felt her heart sting as the guilt in the back of her mind returned. She knew from Qrow that he'd send Ruby and Jaune her way, but she didn't figure Yang and Weiss would be there as well. It made everything a lot more complicated. She couldn't even see Jaune. With the cold calm she had trained herself to use, she just looked at Yang.

"WHY!?" Yang yelled, her semblance causing her to flare up and her eyes to turn red. Weiss took a step forward before Ruby held up her hand to stop Weiss. Weiss looked at her confused before Ruby shook her head at her, then looked towards the two former partners.

Blake breathed in sharply as she saw a rage in her former partner she had only seen once before. The memory of Adam taking Yang's arm only fueled her guilt more. Blake held composure and calmly spoke. "Why, what?" she asked.

"Why did you run from me when I needed you most?! Why did you never let me know that you were still alive?! Why.." Yang yelled, her words trailing off as her gaze became focused again, the flames retreating from her body and her eyes turning the violet hue they normally had. "Why did you abandon me the same way you were?" she asked, Yang's tone full of all the agony she had felt throughout the years.

Blake's composure broke at the last of Yang's words, looking at her former partner in horror and pain. Blake had not cried in a long time, however the words cut through her like a knife.

Blake's face switched from horror to anger as she gripped her fists tightly. "Do you think I wanted to abandon you? Do you really think that? Don't you think I was trying to save you, all of you, from Adam?" she yelled back at Yang, her own angry tears now flowing.

"You could have told us! We could have helped you!" Yang attempted to reason, remembering the bull faunus quite well. A sharp pain cut through Yang as she moved the fingers of her new prosthetic arm unconsciously, a reminder of their previous encounter.

"No you couldn't have. He's been out for one thing and one thing only. Blood. Blood of those I love. And he's still far more powerful than you and I, Yang." Blake said, nearly spitting the words at her former partner.

Taking it like a challenge, Yang's semblance flared again as she turned around and used all the anger and hate in her to hit the tree as hard as she could. When the fist on her right-arm connected with the tree, the wood cracked easily under the power of the hit. Slowly, the crack on the tree ran up, splitting it and causing the tree to slowly fall over in two separate pieces. With heavy thuds the separate pieces hit the ground, causing it to shake beneath them.

Ruby moved in between the two and looked at them with concern. "I know you two are not on the best of terms right now. And I'm not saying I don't want to help you two with processing what has happened and come to a good resolution. But we don't have time." she said, her tone filled with genuine care as she looked between Blake and Yang. "Right now, the cause of all this is in a base or whatever it is, hiding out. It's time for us to end that chapter by taking care of Cinder, once and for all." Ruby finished and loaded a bullet into the barrel of Crescent Rose to enhance her statement and ready the weapon.

Weiss stepped in beside Ruby. "She's right. Whatever's wrong at the moment, we'll have to deal with it later. We need to take down Cinder." Weiss said. Her gaze lingered on Blake for a moment. She could see exhaustion in Blake, not the same she had seen in the cat-faunus years ago near the prom. This was a different kind of exhaustion, as if she'd been running from something and her energy was running out. Weiss could easily guess the cause of that.

Yang nodded and took a deep breath. Her semblance stopped it's flare and she put her hands beside her again. Her gaze however never left Blake's, the pain and hurt replaced by a pleading look. A pleading look attempting to get her friend and former partner to return.

Blake nodded as well, returning Yang's gaze with a fierceness as she wiped away the tears. _She doesn't understand. And she probably never will. I'm did all of that because of you, Yang. Stop this nonsense._ Blake thought to herself and sighed internally. "We're missing Jaune still." Blake noticed and looked at Ruby.

Ruby sighed, smiling at Blake. "He'll be close behind. I'm fairly certain he forgot to bring some supplies or something. Trust me, he'll catch up with us." Ruby said. "We should probably get moving. Like I said, we won't get another shot like this to take down Cinder."

"Right. Follow me and keep quiet. We don't want to trigger their alarms." Blake said, and pulled up a piece of black fabric over her mouth.

* * *

Closing in on the base, it was clear what kind of operation was being run here. Big crates full of dust crystals and powders were being moved deeper into the base. It was well hidden, Ruby had to admit. A small outer area lead to a large cavern in which the White Fang housed themselves.

"Cinder is hiding at the deepest point of the base. However her two lackeys are with her. So we'll have to create distraction and deal with them." Blake said. She pointed at two smaller buildings in the cave. "They make the bombs there and process the dust there. We could strike either one and it'd cause a lot of chaos, giving us an opportunity in. That does mean we'll need to find a way out as well." Blake finished and crossed her arms as she looked at the other team members.

Ruby put a pondering finger to her lips, processing the information and formulating a plan. _So we are vastly outnumbered, even in power if Cinder's even close to a sliver of the power of the Fall Maiden. We'll have to thin them out. If Cinder is hiding, she'll probably attempt to keep her distance as much as she possible could._ Ruby thought and dropped the finger from her lips.

"I've got a plan." Ruby began. "We're outnumbered, vastly so. But we're much stronger than most of the White Fang. If it's only Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, we can take them. I doubt Emerald and Mercury would even give their life to Cinder so all we have to do is beat them in order for them to leave. We'll start out by knocking on their front door. Blow the two buildings and then start to make our way through the White Fang." Ruby explained, looking at her teammates for confirmation of understanding.

"After a while, I'm sure Cinder will be either sending Emerald and Mercury or drawn out herself. Then, we split up in two's. If Emerald and Mercury come, we'll fight them straight up two on one. They can't handle two fully fledged huntresses. If Cinder comes, we'll use everything we have to take her down." Ruby finished. The rest of her team nodded at her, causing Ruby to smile at them. "Good. Now one last thing. Do you guys remember the techniques we trained? she said, excitement in her tone.

* * *

Jaune scanned his scroll. He should be getting close now, the four blips pulsing with greater speed. He was confused however as he found another blip appear on his scroll. Alarm bells rang in his head. Something was coming, and it wasn't going to be good. The blip distorted a couple of times before disappearing completely. Jaune attempted to contact Ruby, his scroll showing a no service sign instead. Angrily, he put the scroll away in his pocket again.

Jaune had to get to them, as fast as he could. Using his aura to enhance himself, he quickly made his way through the deep forest. _Just let me be on time to help them._ Jaune thought to himself, the weight on his back reminding himself of the oath he took to himself. _Let me learn from the past, live in the present and fight for the future._

* * *

The gunshot echoed against the walls of the cavern before the roaring of the explosions overwhelmed it's sound. Alarms rang as the base went into disarray. Ruby and Weiss were first to show themselves. Immediately the White Fang opened fire on them. Weiss held up a defensive shield for the both of them with her Aura, the bullet impacts taking nearly no energy from her. "I'll wait for them to reload, then take them down. Can you make sure they won't move?" Ruby asked, and looked at her former partner.

"Of course I can. Just tell me when." Weiss said, holding up her hand to be ready to conjure her signature glyphs.

"Now." Ruby called out and used her semblance the instant the shield dropped to position herself, leaving behind a trail of rose petals. Rapid shots from Crescent Rose incapacitated a large number of the White Fang forces as they were held in place by Weiss' ice glyphs. Ruby reflexes kicked in as she heard the whirring of an Atlesian Paladin's guns. With a quick hand movement she fired away from the mech and landed beside Weiss, sliding a little as the momentum died down.

"Don't worry Ruby. I've got this." Weiss said. A large white glyph appeared behind Weiss, different than her usual glyphs. After a brief moment, a large armored white figure stepped out. The mech fired at Weiss and Ruby, but the sword of the summoned knight blocked the bullets. Weiss smiled victoriously as the summoned knight charged towards the Paladin and cut clean through it's armor, sending the White Fang member within tumbling out.

Ruby fired forward again, kicking with both her feet against the back of the running White Fang member in order to make him stumble. Ruby followed after the White Fang mech operator and slammed the tip of Crescent Rose into the concrete beside his head, causing him to freeze as he looked at the sharp scythe-blade next to him.

"How many of you are there." Ruby demanded of him. "I am not going to ask again, so spill it.".

"I-I think a thousand? I don't know! I just operated that Paladin you just broke." the faunus stammered to Ruby, trying to slowly scramble away from her.

Ruby pulled out Crescent Rose from the concrete and moved the blade to be behind her. "Okay. Thank you. Now get out of here." she said with a smile. The mech operator looked at her in fear before standing up and running away from Ruby as fast as he could.

"Why did you let him go?" Weiss asked Ruby, looking confused at Ruby.

"Because Blake was right all those years ago. The White Fang is misguided. All they've been is puppets. I've seen it time and time again." Ruby said, and shot her friend a warm smile.

Weiss saw a certain sadness in Ruby's eyes however, there were more important tasks at hand. Weiss saw another member of the White Fang fly by, his clothes slightly singed as he crashed into a couple of crates. The rapid-firing of a shotguns heard echoing off the walls. Ruby and Weiss turned the corner to see Blake and Yang stopping wave after wave of the White Fang's inexperienced members. Even after all that time and Blake's disappearance, Yang and Blake were unstoppable together.

"I think we've got our distraction." Weiss said. Ruby nodded at her and motioned for Weiss to follow her as they moved deeper into the hiding behind crates and containers. The closer they got to Cinder, the more Ruby's heart thumped in her chest. Last time she had seen Cinder was atop of Beacon. When Pyrrha was killed by her. Ruby remembered all the pain from seeing Pyrrha die. She gripped Crescent Rose tightly as the silver glint in her eyes began to shine brighter.

* * *

Jaune saw the base ahead. The gunfire and explosions clear as could be as he came closer and closer. A slight rustle beside him distracted him as he held up his shield. A red blade connected with it, Jaune's semblance deflecting the blade back with equal force as it hit his shield. The force sent both his attacker and himself flying.

Jaune recovered quickly in the air and slid across the concrete on his feet while he slowed down by slamming his shield into the ground, rupturing the floor along his path. Yang leveled her gauntlet at him before her eyes narrowed. "Jaune?" she asked, barely recognizing his new form before turning around quickly to shoot an explosive round at a sniper.

He quickly looked at Yang. "Yang, where is Ruby?" Jauneasked, using his shield to block more bullets as he took deep breaths to manage his breathing again. Out from the brush the bull-faunus came, the red signature weapon sliding back into the sword's sheath.

"Weiss and Ruby are further inside to take down Cinder" Blake yelled at Jaune before she noticed Adam. ".. No.." Blake whispered under her breath as fear gripped her heart.

"It was all a trap. They were waiting for us, I'm going for Ruby and Weiss, you two, make a way out." Jaune yelled before slamming his shield roughly into White Fang footman that was standing in his way.

Blake was frozen and could only stare at Adam as he came closer with each step. "Blake! Wake up!" Yang called out to her, rapidly firing shots at the encroaching attackers. Yang's semblance was flared up, the incoming bullets only making her stronger with each impact.

"Hello Blake." Adam's voice sounded. His voice was full of malice towards her.

Blake looked at Yang. "Yang, Run!" she yelled at her before dashing forward to Adam. Adam smirked as his thumb flicked the guard of his sword and he slashed towards Blake.

Ruby perked up as she heard name, looking around her for the familiar source of the voice. "Jaune?" Ruby said before her heart dropped as she could hear the incoming fire from behind her.

Weiss moved to shield Ruby but was interrupted by a flash of white as the fireball was reflected back to it's source, illuminating the dark and hade of the cave. Cinder's eyes cruelly shone with the fire she possessed. A haunting laugh left Cinder's lips.

"And here I thought they'd send another one to be like a lamb to the slaughter, only for it to be you. The one true lamb." she spoke, the amusement in her voice only generating more hatred for the woman by Ruby. "How does it feel? That even after you unlocked your true power, you didn't stop me?" Cinder said.

Ruby examined her as Cinder stepped into the light. Cinder's left arm was white and the veins within discolored black as it hung in a piece of fabric clutching her chest. Ruby grit her teeth as she stared the woman defiantly.

"My, hit a sore spot didn't I? Oh well. At least I finally can kill the foolish girl that stopped my plans." Cinder said and conjured several obsidians shards imbued with fire to shoot at Ruby and Weiss. As Cinder finished the spell, she was interrupted by a heavy object hitting her square in the arm and sending her flying on the floor. With fury in her eyes, she eyed the source of the interruption.

Jaune slid grip of his weapon back into the handle, the tip of his bastard sword smoking as the blade atop the larger side unfolded. He held up the kiteshield, the quad-colored triquetra in the middle turning as the shield unfolded. Jaune took a defensive stance as he glared over the kiteshield at Cinder. "You killed someone I love." he said. "Now I'm here to make sure you don't do it again.".

Cinder looked confused at the man clad in white armor and his white sword and shield before the colors of two of the ovals on his triquetra symbol triggered her memory. The one girl that had managed to stand up to her. Cinder's lips curled into a smirk. "My, isn't this interesting."


	10. Chapter 10: Vengeance

**I am -incredibly- sorry for not updating in a while. I have been absolutely stuck on the one-shot. I have found no good angle to make it work so I was quite demoralized to write along with everything that happened. First off, Girlfriend left for Italy. Secondly, New Roommate moved in. Thirdly, Stardew Valley.**

 **Stardew Valley has been my crack. ABSOLUTE. CRACK. 50 Hours in .. 5 days? I think? Yeah. Don't start playing it if you value your life. Girlfriend's been enjoying Italy quit well and it's been awesome with a new roommate.**

 **So.. the one-shot. Now. Don't get me wrong. I love to write fluff. But writing it.. non-cannonish has been hard. I'm going to try a different angle on it soon but didn't want to leave you guys hanging. So without further ado, here is Chapter 10: Vengeance.**

Chapter 10: Vengeance

* * *

Blake's heart beat in her throat as she parried each of Adam's heavy blows. Her exhaustion was getting to her, each hit giving him more sway before she was able to recover and hold the parry. Sparks flew with each hit and Adam laughed maniacally as he kicked her in the stomach when her guard dropped. Blake slid away and clutched her stomach. She grit her teeth and looked up at him defiantly. It had been so long since she had started running. She wouldn't falter now. Not when there was so much at stake.

A loud explosion went off behind Blake and as she turned to look she saw the projectile fly at Adam with an incredible speed. Holding up Blush, he had to stand steady in order to absorb the damage of the shot. As the smoke cleared, he didn't come out completely unscathed. His coat smoked as the embers faded and soot stained his mask.

"Stay away from her." Yang said, her voice nearly oozing anger as her semblance slowly caused her to flare up. Adam only chuckled.

"Or what, you'll make me cut off your other arm?" Adam said, amusement in his tone as he put Blush back in Wilt. Last time a provocation like that set the girl off. Surely she would take the bait again.

Yang only smirked in response as she looked at him. "No. I'd much rather wipe that smug grin off your face." She said. A White Fang member ran up to in hope of striking her while she was distracted. Blake moved to warn Yang before a quick whirl around and a punch to the member's face sent him flying into a couple of crates with nearly explosive force. Ember Redemptio's vents opened up as it vented the heat with a loud hiss. Honestly, Blake was stunned at Yang's composure yet destructive force.

Adam grit his teeth once again. He had hoped to just take Blake back. Careful planning had gone into this and Qrow had taken the bait. This base was much too exposed for Cinder to be hiding at. It was an open invitation so they could clean up the last few threats to their goal. However, the circumstances ended up different than initially thought. He knew about the two Atlas agents. The redhead and the blonde boy, but the addition of the blonde and the heiress complicated things very much so.

Blake stood and reloaded Gambol Shroud, replacing the normal bullets with special dust rounds. Yang stared Adam down as Blake got ready. The ven's on Ember Redemptio closed and she quickly reloaded Ember Celica. "Well then, Bull." Yang said, grinning broadly. "Seeing red yet?"

* * *

Cinder's barrage of fire and obsidian shards was relentless. Even though she appeared wounded, Ruby, Weiss and Jaune got no opportunity or opening to counter the Fall Maiden. "Like ants under the looking glass you attempt to scatter from the burning. But you're going to run out of cover sooner or later." Cinder sang, laughing at each barrage. "Ironically, the Summer Maiden cannot even stand up to the fall. You should burn brighter than me, but here you are, cowering from the flame.".

Weiss looked at Ruby and pulled her back as they dodged another large fireball. "Ruby, what is she talking about? The Summer Maiden?" She asked, deflecting a barrage of shards with a wall of ice in order to make time.

Ruby looked back at her, the white glow on her weapon shining dim and the shine of her eyes reflecting in the dark. "If I knew, Weiss, I would tell you. But we have more important things to do right now like figure out how to beat her. We'll tire out before she does so we can't keep dodging like this." Ruby said as the wall was shattered and the both of them duck out of the way.

A heavy blast signaled another round fired from Jaune's weapon and this time Cinder was prepared. Summoning shards, she stopped the blast from reaching her. Still, the shot was of considerable force. The make-shift obsidian shield shattered when the round was stopped and one of the shards cut her cheek. Cinder grit her teeth as she touched her cheek and found a small line of blood to run down it.

Ruby observed it and instantly her mind formulated the next steps. Passing Weiss, she quickly spoke to her. "I've got a plan."

Weiss could only smirk at the words, so familiar even after the years. With a couple of small hand movements the both of them had worked on in order to better facilitate communication without speech, Ruby explained to Weiss her intentions.

Ruby dodged between Cinder's barrages to Jaune who held up his shield to deflect another fireball. "Got a plan?" He quickly asked as she came close. Ruby tapped his back twice to let him know. "Good" Jaune said, dodging in cover again.

Ruby used her semblance to fade into the roses again. Her trained speed together with her semblance helped her become near invisible to those inexperienced with her strength. However Cinder was able to track her. It was becoming harder as she only seemed to increase in speed. Every barrage she attempted to aim at the redhead woman seemed to miss her. It infuriated Cinder.

"Fine then. I'll just incinerate everything." Cinder breathed as the fire grew and grew. Dust crystals exploded, destroying more and more of the cover the three used to hide behind. However, she soon noticed her mistake. White Glyphs surrounded Cinder as the cover disappeared.

Ruby smirked as she shifted Crescent Rose to have the blade upright and fired a round to fly towards Cinder. Crescent Rose connected to Cinder, Cinder's aura rebounding the blow. However, Ruby was not done yet. Using the momentum of her speed she planted her feet at one of the Glyphs. Weiss activated it, causing Ruby to be reflected with the same momentum to Cinder again to deal another heavy blow. Every blow caused Cinder to breathe in sharply as she felt her aura run out.

Cinder's rage unleashed as she sent out a heavy blast of fire around her. Flames curled around Ruby as the blow threw her away back to the cover. Jaune caught her just in time to shield her from hitting the heavy concrete wall, leaving an imprint of Jaune's body in it.

"ENOUGH!" Cinder yelled. She shaked visibly and her breathing was ragged, her Aura running low. "I will not let you defeat me like this! I WILL NOT!" Cinder yelled again, flames welling in her eyes again as flames gathered around her more and more into the largest fireball she had ever made. It trumped her in size and the heat was unbearable. With each passing moment of the fireball growing, the Fall Maiden looked worse for wear.

"If I am to die! I will take you with me! You will become ashes!" Cinder yelled and fired the ball at Jaune and Ruby before slumping to her knees. Weiss' eyes widened as she moved Myrtenaster, hoping desperately she was in time.

* * *

Heavy hits were dealt as Blake and Yang assaulted Adam. Each blow granted him more strength, but it left him with heavy marks as he couldn't stop the onslaught of them both. He would need to end it soon.

Shooting at Blake with Wilt, he parried the next blow of Yang with Blush and dashed backwards. "Hm. I suppose it's only natural you improved. Yet your betrayal will be punished, Blake. I have destroyed much of what you have loved already. I just need to finish it with one thing to completely destroy you." He said, a knowing smirk on his lips as he dashed towards Yang.

Yang smiled as she threw her fist. Blake felt as if her heart stopped as she saw Adam's blade slash towards Yang's neck in the flash of an eye. Adam smirked knowingly to himself that he finally finished his promise and activated his semblance, tempering the blade enough to cut straight through anything.

Yang's grin only grew as she used the momentum of her punch and ducked with her head. Golden locks scattered as Blush cut Yang's hair instead of her neck. Adam's breathing hitched. "No, impossible!" He breathed before an uppercut obliterated his mask and sent him flying away.

Golden locks continued to fall around Yang as she stood victoriously, the long signature mane now cut to her shoulders. "You know, for the longest time, my hatred and anger was always what fueled me to fight. It forced me to recover. It forced me to heal. But I understand now that it's never been that hatred and anger that's been giving me my strength. It was what made me weak." Yang said, reloading Ember Celica as she looked at Adam with a serious look.

"And it's your hatred that's what's made you weak. All you've ever seen is blind hatred towards humanity. Towards Blake. I know how you feel. I was left too. More than once. _Betrayed_ as you would put it." She continued. Blake felt a pang in her heart of guilt. She knew exactly what Yang meant. "But I never let it consume me like you have. You are only capable of one thing. Destruction. But I will not be like you. I will not kill you." Yang finished and made her way over to Adam to help him up.

Adam smirked. Alarm bells rang in Blake's head. Blush connected to the side of Yang's neck before it stopped dead in its track. Yang breathed in sharply as the blade had broken her skin slightly, the cut oozing blood slowly. The sight before her was however the reason she breathed in sharply.

Soft, angry tears fell from Blake's eyes as she held Gambol Shroud against Adam's chest, the blade having pierced him through. Adam slumped over her and chuckled as she held the blade there. "In the end, one last betrayal? We changed nothing." He said, coughing as slowly, his body gave in.

"We did enough Adam. Things are better for our kind. I just wish.." Blake whispered, sobbing gently into his shoulder. "I just wish you listened to me! That you didn't let your hatred blind you like this! Things could've been different for us!" She yelled at him as her sobs became more audible and heavy, shaking her body as she felt her heart unload. All the raw emotion of the past years of running leaving her. The both of them fell to their knees as Blake continued to hold Adam. She pulled out the sword quickly and threw it away, the sword stained red with blood.

Adam coughed, blood leaving his lips. "Yet you still chose to defend her. You're no better than any one of _them_." He said, the tone full of malice. His gray eyes accusingly piercing her amber ones. Slowly the glint in his eyes faded as the life left him.

"No.. Adam, No!" Blake screamed as she shook Adam.

* * *

Ruby shook her head to shake away the heavy hit she took. She noticed Jaune's arms around her loosely, a wound on his head and the soft breathing indicating he was badly hurt from the impact into the wall. When she looked up, she saw the fireball move towards the both of them and her mind raced. It raced with thoughts of all the things she wanted to do still. All the people she wanted to help. All the hurt she'd yet have to heal for everyone. Ruby closed her eyes. _Mom.. Penny.. Pyrrha.. Jaune.. I can't.. I couldn't.._ She apologized in her mind, holding Crescent Rose tightly with the hand she'd placed on it. A heavy thud however made her open her eyes. A heavy white glowing suit of armor with a large sword stood in front of Ruby and Jaune and after a short moment, Weiss stood behind it.

When the fireball exploded, it took every ounce of Weiss' aura and strength to hold it. She breathed heavily as the fire dissipated. Looking towards Ruby, she managed a small smile. The Knight fell over with a heavy thud, destroying the floor and the remaining rubble from the fight. "You.. need to finish her.. Ruby.." Weiss breathed, the words spoken with the last of her energy. Ruby nodded and stood up. Everything in her body ached. Her muscles were sore, she was tired and the healing of her body had taken a great toll on her aura. But she had to defeat Cinder. She had to.

Ruby unlocked the sword of Crescent Rose as she left the rest of her weapon with Jaune. She didn't have the energy to fight with it in her condition. She'd be much more effective using the sword. She made her way over to Cinder who glared angrily at her.

"Why.. will you just not die.. Every time you have stood in my way and every time it's never been enough. You haven't even used the gift inside of you." Cinder spat at Ruby, the fire still glowing in her eyes as she conjured her obsidian sword and stood.

"Because I need to make sure you won't be able to hurt any more people.. I don't want to kill you. But I will, Cinder. For everyone you have killed. For Beacon. For Penny. For Pyrrha." Ruby said, wiping the blood from a cut in her lips.

" As for my gift.. I have no idea what you mean with that. But be sure that I will stop you." Ruby finished before using her semblance to close the distance between her and Cinder.

Cinder grit her teeth as their swords connected. Slowly Ruby overpowered her by the use of both of her hands. "Why do you think you were entered at Beacon at such an early age? Why do you think your uncle's been tracking you forever and saved you from those Grimm when you were younger? Why do you think Ozpin said something about silver eyes?" She said, staring into the determined gaze of Ruby.

"It's because Ozpin send the previous Summer Maiden to her death. And you were the one to inherit those powers. The trait they share? Silver eyes." Cinder finished and struck out at Ruby hoping she'd be distracted.

Ruby deflected the blow and left a little room between the two of them, holding her sword ready to retaliate at Cinder as her mind connected the dots.

"You're lying." Ruby said, slashing towards Cinder. Cinder deflected blow and took a small hop backwards to create some more room.

"I have no reason to lie anymore. One of us will die here and we both know it. After you obliterated my victory at Beacon, I've focused on how you were able to beat me. And I found out that your mother was the previous Summer Maiden. It's only such a shame her gift was squandered on _you_." Cinder said, dashing inward again to strike at Ruby.

Ruby was quick to deflect. Her lips pursed and the determination in her was only fueled by the revelation. The white glow returned to her as she gripped the sword tightly. _I can't die here. I must live. I must fight._

"I presume ' _she'_ was right then. Your mother was as much resilient as you were. But no matter. You can't even harness your powers. And she too died a futile death." Cinder said, the fire in her eyes glowing again. Her sword burst into flames and she closed the distance between herself and Ruby, motioning for the final blow with a smug grin.

Ruby was caught off guard. The sword had a much longer reach with the fire. She knew she didn't have the aura to survive this hit. Then Ruby felt the same whiteness she had felt before, on the top of Beacon. It filled her, a blinding light. Not burning her this time, but soothing. Cinder's face turned from smug self-satisfaction to fear as the white light bled from Ruby's eyes. In a trance-like state, Ruby deflected flaming sword and slashed at Cinder.

The momentum of her attack causing Cinder to slide across the ground. Her blade fell and disappeared. Ruby felt calm. She looked at Cinder as the woman struggled breathing, her energy fully depleted. She made her way over, the outside of her eyes still lined with the white light of her hidden power. Cinder spit out some blood as she looked up at Ruby. "You.. Every time it was you.." Cinder said, struggling to speak the words as blood seeped from her wounds.

"Tell me.. Ruby Rose.." Cinder asked, the mischievous eyes now filled with anger and fear. "Do you .. believe.. in destiny?" Cinder spoke. The blood caused her lips to stain red, more than any lipstick ever could.

"No." Ruby said, determined. Cinder eyes grew wide as she said it and looked at her. Slowly, her life left her body and Cinder fell cold to the floor. Ruby fell to her knees as her power faded, too weak to stand anymore. She looked at the woman before her and tears fell from her eyes. Ruby didn't like to kill people. But sometimes, she knew, it was inevitable. But what hurt most was that this didn't provide her closure. It only provided more pain. In the end, vengeance was bittersweet.

Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Weiss to be standing beside her. "It's done.." Ruby said teary-eyed and turned to look at Cinder again. Softly, Weiss gripped her shoulder to comfort her.

It was then that Ruby noticed too late something was wrong. The flash of the heterochromatic eyes was last she saw before a sharp pain in her back knocked her from her senses. As she hit the ground, everything grew black.


	11. Chapter 11: Extraction

**Hello again, sorry for the delays on this chapter and the one-shot. I'm still working on the one-shot but last week have been working a lot on my studies. Good news; That went really freaking well and I basically programmed working multiplayer for the game we're developing. Yay, go me. Aside from that I might have also gotten an intership at a pretty cool company. So that might also be a thing.**

 **Anyway, personal bullshit aside ( I wonder if any of you actual read it because it's random rants anyway. Wouldn't fault you at any rate for not bothering to read it :P) here's chapter 11: Extraction.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Extraction

Jaune's head throbbed as he gathered his bearings. The first thing he noticed was the distinct lack of heat in the area. Mentally, he chuckled to himself. _Good. Cinder's dealt with._ Jaune mused in his own thoughts. As his eyes unblurred and the headache subsided, he could see the passed out Weiss slumped at his feet. Motioning to move in order to check her, he found he was unable to. A large concrete beam, Jaune supposed had fallen, on top of him was blocking his way. Using his aura to strengthen himself, he slowly pushed the rubble off and aside. His armor had taken a heavy hit from the impact of the wall.

Jaune looked over at Weiss again and could see she was still breathing and wasn't wounded severely. Instantly he looked up towards where Cinder had been, in the middle of the area. The ground was charred black from the flames, a testament to the Fall Maiden's powers. However Jaune got quite confused as he saw Weiss standing behind a sitting Ruby. Jaune's eyes widened as he realized the danger Ruby was in. He motioned out towards her to warn her, but the flash of steel told him he was too late. His heart froze as he saw Ruby slump over and Neo's disguise disappear.

Jaune didn't know whether it was grief, anger or hate that urged him next. He used the full extent of his aura to power him, grabbing his new sword and charging at Neo. "Get away from her!" Jaune yelled out as he slashed at the surprised woman. Neo attempted to parry the sword, but the sheer strength of Jaune's slash sent her flying. Using her acrobatics she landed on her feet, skidding along the ground making the dust and debris of the fallen concrete and destroyed containers fill the air.

Jaune glanced at Ruby quickly as he kept his sword leveled at Neo. Slowly, he could see the back of her cape stain a darker scarlet. Gritting his teeth, he knew he'd have to get both Ruby and Weiss out, and quick. Neo's sadistic smile however already predicted it was going to be difficult. The flash of steel was shown to him again before it had her disappear, an illusion of light shrouding her. In an instant Neo was close to Jaune. She stabbed at him, her eyes switching colors as if to taunt him.

Instinctively Jaune activated his semblance, the blade bouncing off of him without much effort. Neo gasped a little before Jaune brought his sword around and slashed it upwards at her. Unable to defend from this close, she braced for the hit only to find his strength to not even have diminished a little. With a heavy hit she was thrown to the ceiling of the base, imprinting the shape of her body painfully in it and causing more rubble to rain down. Attempting to keep up the offensive, Jaune transformed the sword to its Gauss Rifle position. The handle popped out of the hilt and the hilt itself extended to form a small stock. The 'shorter' side of his sword folded down and he slid his hand in the opening on the larger side to hold it better.

Jaune fed his Gauss Rifle his aura and shot several large bullets at Neo. Every shot kicked up dust from the heavy recoil, but his balance and rigorous training in using it at the base over the past year kept him going on using his aura to balance it out. Neo had barely time to react as she fell. Using her semblance, she used her copies to hide behind. Every now and then she'd be hit by the explosion of a bullet, but she landed on the ground again and seemed to size Jaune up. The sadistic smile was gone, replaced by a look of fury as she seemingly analyzed him.

Shifting the sword back to its normal form as a sword, Jaune glanced at Ruby again. The stain had gotten larger, but wasn't growing as much as before. It still meant that he would need to get her out sooner rather than later. Jaune took up a stance as he noticed Neo advance on him again. She slashed at him, causing him to bring up the sword only for her to feint and stab at an exposed position on his chest. Jaune activated his semblance again, deflecting her stab. Neo kicked at him as she landed which he deflected again causing her to whirl around. However he was surprised by her acrobatics as she brought her other foot around towards his head causing him to stagger.

Neo's speed outmatched Jaune's significantly and Jaune felt that the liberal use of his semblance and the incoming hits was causing his aura to run out. If he needed to end this soon, he'd need to do something quickly. Lowering his sword as her next stab came, he let it go through and grabbed her arm. Both of the results confused and surprised Neo before with a heavy throw she was sent into the air before Jaune infused himself again and slammed her down onto ground.

Neo attempted to mitigate the blow with the sword she used, causing it only to break under the heavy hit. All air in her body left her lungs as she hit the floor with such power that it broke the concrete under her. A flash of pink signalled Jaune that she didn't have enough aura to fight anymore. Heavy pants left Neo as slowly she succumbed to the darkness of unconsciousness.

Instantly, Jaune slammed his sword into ground and quickly made his way to Ruby. He rolled her around to her back and held her gently. He inspected her a little more closely now. The wound had caused her to already lose a lot of blood. Jaune knew he needed to act quickly in order to stop the bleeding. Opening one of the packs on his belt, he pulled out a large bandage and got to work on her wound.

* * *

Yang looked further into the base as Blake held Adam. She had felt the shuddering of the building multiple times. In all honesty, she was worried about Ruby and Yang knew that the White Fang was probably already regrouping to counterattack them at the base again.

"Blake.." Yang started, her voice low but enough for Blake to hear. "We need to find the rest and get out of here." She finished. Her heart felt torn. She didn't want to deny Blake this closure, especially on something she had done herself. But they needed to move. Ruby, Weiss and Jaune needed them.

Slowly Blake's sobbing lessened. With the most gentle movements she placed body down. "I know." Blake said and turned to look at Yang. Yang choked up at the pain she could see in Blake's eyes. "But we're bringing Adam's body back to Vale. I won't leave without him." Blake said as she stood up and held Gambol Shroud. Yang nodded at her before turning and running further into the base.

* * *

Yang's breathing stopped as she and Blake came up on the completely destroyed area. Her eyes shifted to Neo first, finding her imbedded into the floor. Then to Weiss, finding her to chest rising and falling slowly. She felt a painful tinge in her heart however as she saw Jaune holding Ruby as he was quickly working on a bandage. Her exposed stomach was stained red with blood and it filled the air with the smell of copper. "Ruby!" Yang yelled out, her voice panicked as she made her way quickly over to Ruby.

Jaune was preoccupied with his current task. Finishing up the bandage, he hoped it would be enough to atleast get her to some medical attention. Knowing that by now there was nothing else he could do, he regarded Yang and saw Blake close by. He pulled out his scroll and motioned it towards Blake. "Please, make a call for extraction. We'll need a medic onboard." Jaune said. When Blake nodded, he threw his scroll to her.

Yang sat wide-eyed as she stared at her little sister's the bandage growing crimson again from the wound. Jaune's words fell upon deaf ears before his fingers snapping got her back to reality. "Yang! I need you to check on Weiss and that other girl to see if they're okay. I've got Ruby." Jaune said, sounding exhausted.

Yang slowly nodded as she tried to break her gaze from Ruby. Painfully Yang shut her eyes as tears started flowing. She forced herself to turn and made her way over to Weiss. Yang shook Weiss roughly, attempting to wake her up. When there was no response, she opted to pick up Weiss and her weapon instead and made her way over to Neo repeating the process. When she too failed to wake up, she opted to sling both of the women over her shoulders and hooked Myrtenaster onto her hip.

Blake turned to Jaune again and threw back his scroll when she had finished the call. "It's incoming. Ten minutes out. We need to be outside soon so we can extract quickly." Blake said, her calmness having returned. She made her way over to the corpse of Cinder and flipped up her own scroll. Taking a picture, she quickly sent it to Qrow before putting it away again. "We have an extra we need to take along with us though." Blake finished, sighing heavily.

"Then let's go." Jaune said as he picked up his shield and put his sword back into it's frame and slid it onto his back. He made his way over to Ruby and picked her up, making his way out of the base again as Yang and Blake followed.

* * *

When the airship came flying in, they were quick to enter. Blake insisted bringing along Adam's corpse, even though Jaune protested at first. He didn't know the extra would be the corpse of one of their enemies. Yang however shot him a glance that made him hold his tongue. If even Yang insisted, he knew there must've been some reason for it. They restrained Neo and took her to one of the small rooms on the airship, closing it to make sure she wouldn't escape.

Ruby was quickly taken to another small room on the ship in order to treat her wounds. Yang tried everything she could not to think about it. Jaune attempted the same, keeping himself preoccupied with making sure Weiss was okay. She seemed slightly out of it as she woke up and looked scared as she regained her senses and sat up. "Where are we? What happened to Cinder?" She instantly asked. The familiar faces of her teammates and Jaune calmed her quickly however.

Jaune tried his best to smile at her, but felt he wasn't doing a good job of masking the worry in him. "We're on our way back to Vale. Cinder's dead. Ruby.. killed her." Jaune said, as he turned to sit on the opposite side of Weiss. Yang was pacing back and forth, her face downcast as she did so. Blake was letting her hand caress Adam's hair, attempting to keep her own guilt from eating her. Weiss was somewhat taken aback when she couldn't find Ruby however.

".. Where is Ruby?" Weiss asked.

Yang stopped pacing and Jaune sighed heavily. "Ruby got wounded after killing Cinder. I only woke up when that other girl had stabbed her already. I defeated her however and captured her in hope she might be able to give us some information on other disturbances in Vale." Jaune said, turning his head upwards. Weiss breathed in sharply at the mention of Ruby being wounded.

"Was it bad?" Weiss asked and looked with concern at Jaune. She took hold of Myrtenaster and held it in her lap. Idly, she let her thumb rake the dust cylinder, attempting to calm down her own nerves and worry about Ruby.

"She lost quite a lot of blood. I wasn't able to bandage her quickly because of .. 'Neo' I believe her name was." Jaune said and looked at her again. Yang's mind clicked at the name. She thought she recognized the woman. It fueled the anger in her as the room heated up due to semblance flaring up.

Yang angrily stomped her way to the room they had thrown Neo in as the other three all noticed the sudden shift in her behaviour. Blake however felt Yang was about to do something reckless again and quickly stood up and stood in front of Yang, attempting to stop her. "Don't." Blake said in a commanding tone. Yang's fury was apparent in her eyes as she looked back at Blake again. She attempted to make her way around Blake for Blake to only step the same way as her, blocking the way once more. "This isn't going to solve anything, Yang." Blake said, trying to appeal to Yang's reason.

"It's going to solve one thing very well and that's her existence. Or rather, that she won't exist anymore." Yang said, her voice laced with anger and malice as she stared back at Blake.

"And go against everything you said to Adam? Hm? I won't let you be blinded with hate, Yang." Blake said, the conviction in her voice only strengthened by the low gaze she was giving her partner. The guilt of her failure boiling over as tears fell from her eyes again.

The staredown continued until one of the medics cleared his throat from the door, causing the four of them to look at him instantly. "Ruby's doing okay. Her aura still has to do a lot of healing for her because of some internal damage. But most of the danger is over. She's still out however. When we're in Vale, we'll start working on making sure she'll recover fully." He said, before nodding at her four and making his way back in the room again.

A collective breath of relief was let out by the four. Yang looked at Blake again as her anger subsided, the heat disappearing away from her. "I'm sorry. You're right." Yang said, shooting a small smile at Blake. Blake sighed deep as she sat down again. However her hand didn't return to Adam's hair. She looked at him for a brief moment before attempting to close her eyes and get some rest.

* * *

The rest of the flight back was uneventful. When they arrived at Vale, Ruby was taken to a hospital quickly in order to be treated. Yang and Blake had taken Adam's body and left to Forever Fall. Jaune had taken Neo, whom was awake as they landed and proved to quite a handful, to the cells. This left Weiss to report to Qrow about their mission.

She was not looking forward to it. Mostly because the thing seemed fishy from the start. It was as if Cinder knew they were coming from the start and had prepared for it with the mechs and everything. Something just felt off on the whole mission, causing Weiss to only formulate even more questions in her mind.

With a small ding the lift signalled Weiss that she had reached Qrow's office. Stepping inside, she found him sitting behind the desk with his feet kicked up as he examined a photo of what appeared to be.. Cinder?

"Oh hello there Ice Princess. Saw that the lot of you completed your mission. Bit curious to find out it's you that's reporting to me however.." Qrow said amusedly and took a sip of his flask.

"Well, Ruby's in the hospital, Blake and Yang are most likely burying Adam in Forever Fall and Jaune was still dealing with a woman called.. 'Neo'? Who was the one that caused Ruby to get hurt in the first place." Weiss said nonchalantly before peering at Qrow.

Qrow seemed almost unshaken by the news. "Huh. So Ruby got hurt. Didn't expect that." He said, kicking his feet of the desk to sit behind it properly. It unnerved Weiss.

"Then you did expect the other things. About Adam and 'Neo'.." Weiss said, putting a pondering finger to her lips as she analyzed Qrow's words and body language.

Qrow smirked. "You do the same thing your sister does. So I guess I won't be able to fool you into thinking it was some kind of weird coincidence." Qrow said and stood up as the holograms on his desk disappeared. "Yes. I knew about those two being a possible problem." He finished and shot Weiss a grin.

Weiss her gaze was kept low as she continued to look at Qrow. "Then why didn't you tell us so we could prepare for them? Now Ruby got hurt because we only expected Cinder and had to split the team in order to deal with the both of them." She said. Weiss attempted to hide the anger in her tone, but the slightest hint was still picked up by Qrow.

"Because, if you had known, Cinder would've had an edge. Now, all your effort was put on defeating Cinder. And it worked, evidently." Qrow said, walking around the desk to sit against it. He had his arms crossed as he returned the low gaze. There was no more amusement in his tone anymore. "Besides, you're huntsmen. _You improvise_." Qrow ended and emphasized the last words.

"That's ridiculous! What are we then, weapons pointed at your enemies!?" Weiss yelled at him, throwing her hands up in frustration.

Qrow smirked low. "In a sense. Yes."


	12. Chapter 12: Recovery

So. I am sorry. Life has been hectic and I unfortunately can't go into the details. Safe to say; I don't wish to even share those details. Some good stuff, some bad. Some absolute horrifying.

I won't stop supporting this fic until it's completion. It just might take me more time than I initially wanted it to take. I really enjoy writing, but I feel guilty when I don't in a while. Sometimes, however, hobbies aren't the priority. The one-shot unfortunately has been shot along with that. I never got it where I wanted it, and felt my time and effort in it was never going to live up to what I wanted to give. I'd much rather spend time making this story good than force myself to write something I don't believe I can be at my best in.

So, after a long time, I present you, Chapter 12. Recovery

* * *

Chapter 12: Recovery

Pain was the first thing Ruby felt when she woke up. A sharp stinging pain that quickly faded as her eyes returned back to focus. The soft buzzing and beeping of medical equipment oddly calmed Ruby as she looked around the white room. Her hand roamed to where the pain had come from and touched it gingerly. She hissed a little as her fingers grazed over the bandages and subsequently the wound itself. Memories came flooding back, along with a multitude of questions. Ruby slowly rose to sit, clenching her teeth at a sting from the wound every so often.

She could see Crescent Rose neatly folded on a dresser along with her clothes. That was one question answered. A soft snoozing answered her next one. Jaune's head was laying on the bed, next to her legs. It brought a smile to her face and she had to stifle a giggle as his hair was completely disheveled, even more so than usual. However, her eyes shifted from Jaune to his new weapon. It seemed strange that he never said anything about it. Ruby had known that Jaune didn't like using Crocea Mors. He did it mostly because it was a family heirloom, not because it was _his_ weaponry.

The intricate metalwork and shape intrigued Ruby. It was still the same idea; A sword and a shield. But it seemed like the sword was part of the shield and the other way around. It also seemed much larger than Crocea Mors was. A knot-like shape with four different colors was in the middle of the large kite-shield. She could see her scarlet, alongside a rich brown and dulled gold in leaves on it, with the middle circle being beige like the emblem on the shield of Crocea Mors. She pondered about the colors for a moment before a groggy Jaune leaned back in his chair and looked around rubbing his eyes. When he noticed Ruby being awake, his eyes went wide as saucers.

"Ruby?! You're awake!" Jaune nearly yelled before instantly moving to embrace her. Again Ruby hissed from the pain. "O-oh! Sorry!" Jaune quickly said and loosened the embrace.

Ruby nuzzled into Jaune's shoulder and wrapped her arms lightly around him to avoid hurting herself more. She took a deep breath, the familiar smell and form making her feel warm and safe. A soft smile appeared on her lips. She felt in absolute bliss as Jaune's hands softly caressed her. Reluctantly, she let go of him again, as did Jaune who seemed equally as reluctant. Ruby still had questions.

"How long was I out..?" she asked first, her voice a little hoarse. Jaune laughed a little before handing her a cup of water which was on the bedside table.

"About three days. You used a lot of Aura in the fight with Cinder, so you didn't heal as fast. That's what the doctor's have been saying anyway." Jaune said, placing a hand over Ruby's covered leg and caressing it gently. "How are you feeling..?"

"Well, the wound hurts and I'm a bit disoriented.. But I'm okay." Ruby said, the confusion slowly fading. "What happened after.. Well, I got knocked out?" Ruby said and looked with concern at Jaune.

Jaune sighed heavily. "Well. I recovered and saw Weiss standing behind you, while I knew she was laying at my feet unconscious. Then I saw a flash of steel and.. Neo stabbed you. I tried to warn you but.. I was too late.".

Ruby looked at Jaune for a moment. He looked defeated as he was remembering what had happened. Ruby felt her throat dry up again as she was looking for words.

"I'm sorry." Jaune said, his head downcast.

"For what?" Ruby asked confused.

"For not being there on time. For not being strong enough. I-" Jaune started, the guilt that had been growing in his gut overflowing into his mouth. He was stopped by Ruby gently putting her hand on his cheek and pulling it up to look into his eyes.

Ruby's eyes shone with a mixture of emotions. "It's not your fault." she said softly. Ruby's throat tightened, the realization of Cinder's death dawning on her. "And we avenged them Jaune.. All those people.."

Jaune eyes went wide again as the realization too dawned on him. ".. She's dead..".

Ruby slowly nodded as tears began to flow, a shaking grin forming. Jaune's own tears started flowing as well as their mutual pain, anger, fear, frustration, doubt and sorrow was let go all at once. The two embraced again as through tears they laughed, their souls finding peace at the demise of the one who instilled those emotions in them. It felt strange to them, almost like a weight they didn't know had been lifted from them.

Ruby didn't even care when it stung. The sheer relief overpowering every other feeling as she held onto Jaune. Slowly, the feeling subsided, only a small buzz left in the both of them. Ruby let go again and wiped away the tears with her hands. A moment of silence passed between them as the realization settled as reality. Ruby cleared her throat before speaking again. "How's the rest..?"

"No one got badly hurt. Yang and Blake visited you this morning and Weiss is still hanging around. She was the one that reported to Qrow and she came back furious. Apparently he knew about the backup." Jaune said, his voice progressively steadying.

Ruby blinked at him in surprise. "Wait. Then why didn't he tell us?".

Jaune shrugged and sighed. "Weiss is trying to find out. She thinks Cinder was just a symptom of something bigger as well. But Qrow doesn't seem too keen on telling us exactly why he didn't tell us."

Ruby hummed in understanding before her eyes again wandered to his weapon. "So.. What's the deal with the new weapon..? How did you manage to hide that from me?" she said, chuckling with slight amusement.

Jaune laughed nervously before looking at the weapon again. "I called it Trinity." he said, his hand idly gliding along the curves on the shield. "I asked for it to be made about a year ago." Jaune finished as he pulled the sword in the middle out, gears whirring and the symbol in the middle of the shield turning as the sword was further pulled out.

"Why?" Ruby asked as she saw the sadness in Jaune's eyes again.

"Because.. Crocea Mors was never truly mine, Ruby. It's not .. 'me'." he said, holding the sword with great care. "This. Trinity. It's all I stand for. It's the past, the present and the future. What has been. What is. What will be. And it's a promise to not only myself, but everyone that I will do whatever I can that our future might be bright.".

Jaune slid the sword back into the shield, the gears turning again before it clicked and the symbol was in the "same" position as before. "So.. The colors..?" Ruby asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"Represent that, yeah. The rich brown is for the past. For Pyrrha. The dulled gold, for my family and my name, the now. The scarlet.." Jaune said, his words trailing off.

 _Me._ Ruby's heart skipped a beat. _I'm his future.._

Ruby found herself with a lump in her throat, unable to find words to explain her feelings as she looked at him and he looked at her. A moment of awkward silence passed between them. Jaune cleared his throat as he stood. "I .. uhh. Still have to report to Ironwood. I think I'm going to do that now. Yeah. Uhm." he said, his voice unsteady.

"Eh. Yeah. I'll get some more rest I think. Could you tell the others I'm awake again?" she asked, a small blush on Ruby's cheeks the result of the flustered feelings in her head.

"Yeah. I will - uh - let them know." Jaune said, grabbing Trinity and putting it on his back. Just as he motioned for the door, Ruby quickly moved to grab hold of his hand, gritting her teeth as her wound nagged at her. Jaune looked back at her.

"I love you." Ruby said. Jaune smiled at her and walked over to her, cupping her face rubbing his thumb over her cheek delicately before kissing her. This kiss wasn't like the ones they had shared before, Ruby thought. This kiss transcended the passion they had before. This kiss was one of genuine love. It made her feel warm. Safe. Like nothing could happen to her with Jaune at her side. She knew of course that was a bit ironic, seeing as Jaune was by her side as she was struck down. But it felt _right._ Even more so than before.

Their lips disconnected and Ruby sighed happily.

"I love you too Ruby." Jaune said before stealing another little kiss and making his way to the door, glancing over at her and smiling broadly as he closed it.

* * *

In the following days Ruby recovered. Blake and Yang had come by and sat with her, as had Weiss. It was the first time in a long time that Team RWBY had come together again and could talk with each other. There was a lot of laughter, but also a lot of heartfelt moments.

Ruby was glad that even though the years hadn't been kind to all of them, they hadn't changed much. Weiss could still be quite condescending - although she swore it had gotten better - but she did it because she cared, Ruby knew. Yang was still blunt as ever and seemed a lot happier now that Blake was here again. Blake was still quiet and reserved, but had ditched her mask after a day or two, and seemingly felt comfortable when she was near Yang. Ruby wondered what had happened between Blake and Yang. They had returned from Forever Fall and seemed genuinely happy again. Ruby wasn't one to complain, but it stood out as they also never left each others side. It reminded Ruby of herself and Jaune.

"Ruby, don't you think so?" Weiss asked. Ruby blinked as she looked at Weiss, whom sighed in exasperation.

"Were you even paying attention?" Weiss asked, annoyance present in her tone.

"Sorry.. I was thinking. What were you talking about?" Ruby said, slightly ashamed she was caught getting lost in her thought.

"We were talking about that there is something bigger going on than merely Cinder. Uncle Qrow's been quite mysterious and evasive whenever we ask him." Yang said, before tilting her head slightly. " Has he even checked up on you?".

Ruby shook her head no. A frustrated sigh left Yang's lips. "That good for nothin'...".

"Calm down Yang. I'm sure he has his reasons. Whatever they may be.. But right now, we need to focus on finding out what is even happening." Blake said, her voice calm but her words urgent.

"Blake's right. I think I could talk to my sister. Ironwood might have some information. Qrow's scroll is sure to hold something interesting on it. Maybe Neo knows something as well. And we could ask other senior huntsman teams if they've noticed something out of ordinary as well."

"I could maybe check Qrow's scroll." Blake quietly said.

"I'll ask the senior teams. I kept contact with most of them anyway when I started training at Signal." Yang said, smiling broadly.

"Ruby, you could maybe check in wi-" Weiss started before she was quickly interrupted by Ruby.

"I'll talk with Neo." Ruby said, her tone strong and unwavering.

A silence settled on the room before it was broken by Yang. "Uhh.. Why?" she voiced the confusion of the rest of them.

"Because. I want to. Because I want to understand her." Ruby said.

"You know she's mute, right?" Weiss asked.

"Doesn't matter. She can write, I think. I just need to know something of her."

"Okay then. You'll talk to Neo. Then we'll get Jaune to speak to Ironwood." Yang said.

The door to Ruby's room opened with a soft creaking sound. "You'll get me to speak to who?".

* * *

Ruby still didn't feel fully herself again as she had donned her usual clothing and armor. It was only natural, as her Aura hadn't fully recovered from the intensive healing it had to do. But Ruby couldn't sit in bed any longer, she felt restless on the days no one came to keep her company which was getting more common lately with the rest of her friends attempting to find out what the hell was going on.

Weiss had gotten nothing from her sister. Winter had chosen to keep quiet and let loose no word, as had been her training. When Weiss had tried to appeal to their family bond, they had gotten into a fight. So that hadn't helped much.

Blake still hadn't gotten a good opportunity to get Qrow's scroll. She's have to find another way. Meanwhile, she kept herself as inconspicuous as possible by just writing reports of her spying.

Yang hadn't been successful in finding any information from the other teams. However what was interesting was there was no change in the amount of Grimm and direction of them. It seemed Cinder was not still controlling them, which led them to believe Cinder might not be the one in control of them. Maybe, never was.

Jaune had a little more success. There was something, which was the reason Ruby and Jaune were sent here, but the rest had been classified. Even when Jaune tried to require more intel, he was blocked at every turn by Ironwood. Surely, Atlas would be keeping a closer look to Ruby and Jaune's activity now.

Today was Ruby's turn. She was going to question Neo. Ruby breathed in deeply as she hooked Crescent Rose on the rack on her back, feeling it hook onto nicely. She had missed this feeling, of being able to overcome anything. She hoped she'd be able to work in the field again soon, to help more people. But she would settle for talking with Neo now.

Ever since Ruby and Jaune were attacked on the Beacon grounds by Neo, Ruby had wondered why Neo was in such a state. It made no sense to Ruby. As she walked through the hospital on their way to the prison where Neo was currently held, Ruby kept going over every possibility Neo would have for hating her this much.

She entered the prison without much problems, the guards instantly recognizing and letting her through. A guard escorted her to the cell. The guard glanced every now and often at Ruby and smiled to himself. Ruby felt slightly uncomfortable at that and decided to just ask. "Is there something, sir?".

The guard laughed with a low rumble. "I was just thinking. My little girl is quite a fan of you. She has a bunch of posters and even books about you. I was going to ask for an autograph for her, but figured you wouldn't be interested in because I can imagine you get asked for one all the time." .

Ruby was surprised by the guard. "I uh. I could give you an autograph. I don't really.. have anything on me though to write with. Or on.".

The guard stopped for a brief moment and pulled out his wallet. A picture of a smiling girl with frizzy black hair was prominently on display next to a picture of their family. It made Ruby smile. He pulled out the picture of the girl and pulled one of the pens out of his shirt. "It'd be the world to her.".

Ruby smiled genuinely as she took the pen and the picture. "What's her name?".

"Rosa. Coincidentally. She likes to brag about how close it is to your last name, Ms. Rose." the guard said, chuckling.

Ruby quickly wrote her autograph on the picture's back and then turned it around again. 'For Rosa, Ruby Rose.' Ruby wrote on the front and drew a little rose at the end of it. She gave back the picture and the pen to the guard as she smiled happily.

"Thank you, Ms. Rose." the guard said and put away his things before continuing down the hallway. At the end of the hallway, she could several small rooms with two entrances. Interrogation rooms. The guard opened one of them and held it open for Ruby, who stepped inside quickly. Sat at the table in a straitjacket, was Neo. She grinned broadly at Ruby, but didn't move a muscle. Ruby cautiously sat down at the table and looked at Neo. A plethora of questions for Neo were in her head. But she needed to ask this one first.

"Why did you try to kill me?"

Neo's mouth opened, amusement still on her face. A rasping voice, spoke laboriously.

"Ro.. man..".


	13. Chapter 13: Turncoat

I just want to say thank you. Through all the harshness of my private life, seeing the massive amount of views on my page was somewhat magical and emotional to me. I'm still going through some problems and that might have affected my will to write a little bit. Writing is a good way to forget about some things. Food for thought.

Little warning though. There is some harsh violence in this. So:

 **Warning: There is the attempted murder of a character by choking in this chapter.**

Without further ado.

* * *

Chapter 13: Turncoat

Ruby went from surprise, to shock, to confusion. Her memories of fighting Neo and Roman were vague. She knew that she had taken care of Neo by using her weapon against her but it took her a little bit to grasp again what had happened to Roman. She looked at Neo again. This time the amusement in her eyes wasn't as present, a sadness reflecting in them as before tears slowly welled in Neo's eyes.

"Neo.. What happened to Roman. It wasn't my fault." Ruby said softly. She didn't know why she wanted to comfort Neo. She just wanted to.

A scoff left Neo's lips as she looked away from Ruby.

"Roman was eaten by a Griffon, Neo." Ruby said, softly again. "There wasn't anything I could do. If I even could do anything.".

Neo slowly looked at her again, the amusement and sadness in her eyes replaced by one of fury. Tears were slowly running down her cheeks and she struggled to keep her sobs in.

"Have you blamed for it? All these years?" Ruby asked. She felt guilty, for what reason, she wasn't sure. Roman wasn't her fault. She was lucky she got out of that alive herself.

Neo nodded, angry tears still streaming.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said. She let the words hang in the air as she looked down a bit in shame. Roman had been the first actual human she had seen die. She guessed her mind just.. blocked the memory out.

When she looked up, Neo was looking at her in a little shock and surprise. Her lips were a thin stripe still, and her eyes still reflected much of her anger. But it was clear she hadn't expected Ruby to apologize.

"I want to say I understand. I probably don't. Won't ever will, most likely. But it's one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you Neo. There is something big happening, and I want to know what. So I can stop. So _we_ can stop it." Ruby said. Her determination was clear in her voice. Neo just looked at her, the anger in her eyes not as prominent as it was before.

"I want to ask you a couple of questions. I am hoping you'll answer them so we can maybe find out what is happening. I think I could maybe settle something with Qrow so you won't be punished harshly, or at the very least helped with whatever you need. Do you understand?" Ruby asked, her voice soft and comforting again.

Neo nodded, breathing deeply and sighing. Her tears had stopped and only the wet trails of them remained. Ruby managed a small smile at her.

"Do you know where Mercury and Emerald are?"

Neo shook her head.

"Were you loyal to Cinder?"

Neo shook her head fast this time. She accompanied a glare with it.

 _Okay.. She wasn't fond of Cinder._ Ruby thought to herself, making a mental note of it.

"Was Cinder the main controller of the Grimm?" Ruby asked.

Neo shook her head normally this time.

"Do you know who is?" Ruby continued.

Neo thought for a moment. She shook her head slowly.

"Did Cinder plan and carry out the Beacon attack?"

Neo nodded.

"Was .. Roman involved in planning it?"

Neo shook her head and turned her head a little downward. She obviously didn't like thinking about Roman.

"Do you know who Roman was talking about. On the airship. When he was talking about the people that hired him?"

Neo nodded.

"Do you know who they are?"

Neo nodded. Albeit a lot more slow. It looked as if she bit her lip slightly.

"Can you tell me? I know.. You don't talk a lot. I just. Well. Uh. Yeah." Ruby stammered out, she felt exhilarated at the thought that they actually might get somewhere now, but hadn't really thought about, well, Neo's condition because of it.

Neo's mouth opened. Then closed as she seemed in thought. Then her eyes shifted to white irises.

"Neo..?" Ruby asked. "Are you okay?".

Neo looked up at her. Fear. Ruby could see the fear in her eyes clear as day. It wasn't being afraid something, no. Neo was terrified.

"Neo. Whatever it is, we can protect you. We're not him, Neo, we can prote-" Ruby said before Neo lunged at her. The anger in Neo's eyes had returned as Ruby fell with Neo on top of her. Neo's hands were on her throat and she was tightening her grip.

Ruby's eyes went wide as she felt her air supply being closed, quickly she tried to pull Neo's hand off of her throat, but Neo proved stronger than she looked. She looked at the fake window and saw the small shimmer of her illusion. It seemed the straitjacket had also been an illusion.

"N-neo! Stop!" Ruby managed to say. In response, Neo pulled her up and smashed Ruby's head against the hard concrete floor, causing Ruby to see stars in her eyes. Steeling herself, she kept her grip on Neo's arms and little by little managed to create some room at her throat to breathe.

"I d-didn't mean it l-like that! I'm s-sorry!" Ruby screamed, futily. Neo pulled her up again before smacking her even harder against the floor. This time, it took her a few seconds get her wits back before she felt the hands tighten on her throat again. Grabbing hold of her hands, she attempted to overpower the other girl by rolling over, leaving Neo on the floor with Ruby on top of her.

Again Ruby tried to pull Neo's hands off of her, using every bit of strength she had, Ruby felt them prying loose from her throat. She could hear Neo grit her teeth as slowly Ruby overpowered her. Ruby slammed Neo's hands next to her head as she breathed heavily, her neck already bruising from the grip Neo had had on it.

"Killing me won't bring him back Neo!" Ruby screamed. Neo's face shifted for a moment before tears started flowing from her eyes.

"Killing doesn't help anything! It's the killing that got us here! Don't you understand?" screamed again. Ruby's tears had started flowing as well, the fear and pain washing off of her. "What happened to Roman wasn't my fault! Or yours! What happened to Roman is the fault of the one doing all this!" Ruby yelled at Neo.

"So please. _Please._ For Roman's sake. Stop. Help me. And I promise, I'll do everything I can to protect you. To help you. And to stop all this pain." Ruby pleaded to Neo, her voice raw from the choking and the emotions inside of her. Neo slowly stopped struggling and let go of Ruby, placing her hands on her face as her sobbing truly started. The sound of shattering glass meant that her illusion would be gone and instantly she could hear hurried footsteps and the door to the room was flung open.

"Wait! Stop! I have it under control." Ruby said, clearing her throat and standing up. She hadn't felt the pain from the bruises on her neck because of the adrenalin in her veins. But now, it started to sting _badly._ She hoped they wouldn't be visible quite yet. The hard pounding in her head didn't help her any either. The guards slowly nodded as she smiled at them.

"She used her illusions. But nothing big happened." Ruby lied.

"Okay. Just be careful next time." the guard that had escorted Ruby had said before closing the door again. This time however, the window didn't reflect and she could see the guards. Ruby gently rubbed her neck, the shock still not quite settled in her heart. Ruby's heart thumped heavily in her chest.

"Neo. Let's sit again." Ruby said before holding her hand out to Neo and managing a shaky smile. She needed Neo to know she could trust her. Neo looked up at her, eyes red from the crying. Ruby figured she had never allowed herself to actually grief for Roman. _Had anyone ever really processed what happened at the attack..?_ Ruby wondered.

Neo softly took her hand and Ruby helped her up. They both picked up their chairs and sat again, Neo rubbing away her tears and taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"So.. Do you want to tell me who it is..?" Ruby asked. Neo didn't look scared anymore. The only thing reflected in her eyes was sadness as she nodded.

"Do you know his or her name?"

Neo shook her head.

"Do you know what he or she looks like?"

Neo nodded.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and gave her a small stylus.

"Could you write down or draw them?"

Neo nodded and took her scroll and stylus. She fumbled with both for a small moment. _She's shaking like crazy._ Ruby thought to herself.

Neo started drawing on a blank canvas and fairly quickly the form of a woman came to life on the screen. Pale as snow, sometimes black as night. But one thing stood out to Ruby as Neo finished. Blood red irises in black eyes. Like the Grimm. A location, a sketch of one was drawn with it. Darkness enveloped the form. Ruby found it to be quite detailed in all honesty.

"This is her?" Ruby asked.

Neo nodded and shoved Ruby's scroll away.

"Thank you, Neo. I really appreciate it." Ruby said and stood up as she slid her scroll into her tunic. She signalled the guards to know she was done. Neo stood up and knew what was coming, but instead as she turned to the door she had entered the room in, she was pulled into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry. For all it's worth. I'm sorry, Neo." Ruby said, holding the smaller woman for a brief moment. "I'll talk to Qrow. See if I can maybe get you set up somewhere else. I just- I hope you don't blame me anymore. I understand if you do, but, I do want to help you. I promise you.".

Neo nodded at her, before Ruby let go and she was escorted back to her cell.

* * *

"SHE TRIED TO STRANGLE YOU?!" Yang yelled at the top of her lungs. Already Ruby could see the fury brewing.

"I told you she wouldn't take it well." Jaune remarked sarcastically to Ruby. Both of them glared him down. The statement was a bit ironic, seeing as Jaune had freaked out equally as much after seeing her.

"Message received." he said sheepishly and held his hands up.

"Yang. I'm fine. I'm still breathing and I think we might talk her into becoming an all-" Ruby said before being interrupted by her furious sister.

"No! Ruby! She has tried to kill you three times already! We don't even know if that drawing will lead anywhere! So now, all we have is some stupid drawing and a vague hint at something larger being at play!" Yang yelled again as she plopped unceremoniously into a chair.

"As much as I'd like for you to calm down, Yang, you are right." Weiss said calmly. "We don't know anything. All we have is that sketch. It's not enough evidence to go on.".

"You didn't see her face. You didn't see the pure terror when she thought about that woman. She's been living a hell and never got to process it. Like many of us didn't. This woman, she means something." Ruby said, glancing at each one of them. "I'll give her a chance. I have to. She blames me for taking away the only thing that mattered to her."

"She's not your responsibility. You know that, right?" Blake said softly.

"I know. But I still feel like it is. She can prove helpful. She probably knows quite a lot still about things the White Fang does. Traps, routes. That sort of thing." Ruby said, before sighing. "I just need time to help her."

Jaune took hold of her hand comfortingly. Ruby's heart swelled. "I think we need to start focussing on what we can do. Ironwood will probably send us new orders soon. Maybe we can start to uncover more once we get them. In the meantime, we still have to go about our things."

Ruby nodded before her scroll started to buzz and ping. A message. "Uncle Qrow wants to talk to me. I'll try and find out what I can."

The rest of the group nodded as Ruby stood.

* * *

"You wanted to talk to me, Uncle?" Ruby asked. She however did not feel excited this time to talk to him. She was still suspicious after Weiss had told what happened.

"Yes. Yes I did." Qrow said, sighing deeply.

"I need to know exactly what happened with Cinder."

"Cinder..?" Ruby asked, her tone soft. "Why?".

"Because I need to know what she knew." Qrow responded, his tone not having switched to sarcasm or mock. It was dead serious. It unsettled Ruby.

"She told me I had been a thorn in her side.. That I had a gift inside me." Ruby retold, her head downward as she attempted to remember everything, her eyes went wide as she looked up at her uncle. He was leaning against the window, looking out over Vale, a cup in one hand.

"She told me, my mother had been the Summer Maiden." Ruby said. Qrow's hold on his cup tightened. "Is that true?".

A moment passed between them.

"Am I the next Summer Maiden, Uncle?" Ruby asked, her voice shaking a little as the realization set in. Qrow's silence didn't help her as she started to realize it herself.

His whole posture was stiff.

"Uncle Qrow. Please. Answer me." Ruby said.

"Yes."

Ruby felt lightheaded.

"Did Ozpin send Mom on that mission?".

Qrow's grip on the cup tightened even more. Ruby was sure it would break under the pressure.

"Yes."

Ruby wasn't able to hold herself together anymore. She felt betrayed. The person that brought her to Beacon only brought her to it for one thing and one thing only. Her maiden powers. He most likely would have sacrificed her like her mother.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"WHY!"

Qrow's silence was her only answer.

"All this time I have suffered! Because of that?! Because Ozpin decided Mom needed to go on that mission alone?! WHY!?" Ruby yelled, her throat becoming hoarse already from the sustained abuse it had had throughout the day.

"He didn't decide to send her alone." Qrow said. His head hung lower.

".. Uncle, what do you mean..?" Ruby asked, her voice quiet.

"He didn't decide to send her alone." Qrow said before angrily flinging his cup at a nearby wall with great force, shattering it fully.

"You.. wait.. Mom? You abandoned her?!" Ruby yelled at him.

"Yes." Qrow said, leaning on his desk with his head hanging low in shame.

"WHY!" Ruby yelled at him, tears streaming along her face and sobbing each time she finished yelling.

"Because I knew it was suicide. But your mother was convinced it wasn't, Ruby. I tried to talk her out of it. I really did. But I failed." Qrow said. He fished a key out of his pocket and slid it into the lock of one the drawers on the desk. Turning the lock he quickly opened it and grabbed the flask out of it. He inspected it for a moment before opening it and taking a large swig.

"I.. Mom.. I trusted you.. She, trusted you." Ruby said, glaring at him.

"No. She didn't. With every right, she didn't trust me, Ruby." Qrow answered, returning her glare.

"I needed her. I needed my mother, _Qrow_." Ruby spat out, the words accusatory.

"And Gods know I needed her, Ruby. But I made a choice. A choice I regret dearly and deeply which ultimately led to her death." Qrow said. "It's the reason I have drun- drink. It's so I forget."

"Forget what? Your betrayal?!" Ruby yelled again.

"No! The fact that I left the woman I loved alone when she needed me most! That I failed to take care of her! The fact that when it mattered, I was unable to stop her because she did not trust me! The fact that all these years. All these _fucking_ years, I have to watch my daughter by the sidelines so I don't fuck things up! Because Gods know that I couldn't survive fucking up the last remainder I have of Summer. That I let her daughter fall victim to the same bullshit her mother had to endure." Qrow yelled in return. "And that all that was for nothing. Because in the end, I still had to drag you into all this. Into this _bullshit_ war."

Ruby looked wide-eyed at Qrow. "No." she whispered and shook her head.

"No." Ruby repeated her face frozen in shock as she backed away slowly.

Qrow was her father. _Qrow, was her father._ Her mind went a million miles an hour as she processed the information. _**Qrow is my father.**_

Ruby ran. She ran from Beacon, using her semblance to go as fast as she could. She ran from Vale, the city blowing past her at ridiculous speeds. Her mind turned white. She didn't even know how she got to Patch. She didn't even know how she got to the grave of her mother. But here she was, down on her knees in front of her mother's grave.

"Why, Mom?" Ruby asked to the grave.

Silence was her answer.

"Why?"

Ruby broke down. She screamed at the top of her lungs, letting all the confusion and pain of her childhood out. All the pain of not having her mother with her. Not understanding her mother. She had told Ruby and Yang it was for the best. Yang, who wasn't even truly her sister. Tai-yang, who wasn't truly her father. Qrow who had never told her the truth.

She screamed as loud as she could.


	14. Chapter 14: Family

It's funny how life sometimes comes back to haunt you. Sometimes it's in the little things, small reminders of things that have gone wrong or such. Or sometimes it's sitting at a funeral and basically reliving the one for a good friend.

Thank you for the reviews and views in general. I'd love to be able to react to some of you because your words are so kind, but alas, Guest Reviews ( Still do very much appreciate you!) . To the guy who was like "NOT A QROW x SUMMER PAIRING AGAIN!" - It isn't. Summer is dead. She is. However you have to keep moving forward.

It's weird how often that applies to life.

* * *

Chapter 14: Family

Ruby lay still on the ground. Night had come after she had lost her voice screaming and she couldn't find the energy inside of her to stand up. To move.

An electronic 'boop' caught her attention however as the pad on her arm softly glowed green. She looked at the pad. The image of Penny materialized on the pad.

"Ruby?" Penny asked softly. Ruby didn't answer her. She just looked away. Ruby knew she couldn't turn Penny off. She would just override the controls of the pad. So she would just ignore her.

"Everybody's worried, Ruby." Penny said.

"I don't care." Ruby said. She just wanted to be left alone for now.

"That's a lie, Ruby." Penny said matter-of-factly. Penny was right of course. But Ruby didn't want to face them and tell them 'Oh yeah my uncle was my dad all along and it turns out that he's part of the reason my mother died.'. Her mind wandered to Yang. So long Ruby had looked up to her. Seen her as the big example in her life, her big sister.

"I just. I can't face them Penny. Not now." Ruby said. She could trust Penny, she knew. She would never tell.

"Shall I just tell them you're okay?" Penny asked. Ruby looked back at the hologram of Penny. She smiled at Ruby. Ruby nodded at Penny, who nodded at her back and disappeared from the pad.

Slowly but surely, Ruby sat up. Her hair was disheveled from lying on the ground, pieces of it matted with dirt. She brushed the dirt off of herself and looked at the grave of her mother.

"I wish I could talk to you, Mom." Ruby said, her voice hoarse from the screaming. "I wish I could understand what you had to go through. To make the decision that you did. What you felt in your final moments."

"But I can't." Ruby sighed. "And I have to live with that."

Ruby stood and stretched before flipping her hood over her hair.

"I just hope you're proud of me.".

* * *

Taiyang was sitting on the couch as the TV softly hummed with life. The house felt empty again, after Yang had left. He knew his daughters were doing important things and Qrow had told him it would be dangerous, but Yang was more than capable of defending herself. And Ruby.. She looked so much like Summer. And Summer had been the strongest one of them. Of their team.

He sighed to himself. It was late. He probably should just go to bed. He'd need to teach again tomorrow and he'd been been busy with fussing over his younger daughter in the past few days anyway. He could use a good night's rest. Turning off the TV and the lights, he made his way over to the stairs before a soft knock on his door stopped him. Someone at the door? Taiyang glanced at the clock. Past midnight. He made his way down the stairs, wondering who it was. Cautiously, he opened the door.

"Ruby?" Taiyang said surprised. Without as much as another word, she crashed into Taiyang. She nuzzled tight into the embrace, feeling at home once again. Taiyang figured there was something wrong, but she seemed to need this. He wrapped his arms around her.

They held the embrace for a moment before Ruby let go and disconnected. "I'm sorry. It's very late.. I should just go."

"Nonsense. Clearly there is something wrong. Let's just sit down, have some tea or coffee." Taiyang said. Ruby seemed uncomfortable for a moment before she stepped inside and closed the door. Taiyang turned on the lights of the kitchen and pulled out two mugs.

"So what do you want to drink?" Taiyang asked, looking at his daughter.

"Something strong. If you have it." Ruby said. The corner of Taiyang's lips moved.

"That bad?" Taiyang said, before turning around and opening a thin cabinet. Out of it he pulled a bottle of liquor and poured the both of them a moderate amount in the mug. Ruby nodded at him as she took the mug and downed it immediately. Her face scrunched up as the bitterness set in.

"So. What's problem. Jaune? Do I have to beat his ass?" Taiyang asked and taking a light sip from his alcohol.

"No. Jaune is .. fine." Ruby said, she fiddled with her hands again, the previous uncomfortableness returning.

"Yang then?" Taiyang asked.

Ruby shook her head.

Taiyang laughed a little bit. "We can play the guessing game all night, or we can talk about what's actually bothering you. Since you look like absolute hell and such."

"Qrow told me." Ruby said.

Taiyang's laughter faded. "Okay." he said, downing the rest of his alcohol.

".. So when were you going to tell me?" Ruby asked.

"Never." Taiyang answered immediately.

"Why?"

"Because even while I was an absolute mess, Qrow was ten times worse. There is a reason I don't like him, Ruby." Taiyang answered.

"But I had a right to know." Ruby said.

"Yes you did. But when even Summer didn't want you to know that Qrow was actually your father. There is a reas-" Taiyang said.

"Yes. I know. He told me what he has done to Summer. But it doesn't explain why all these years you have kept this from me. Kept this.. Lie alive." Ruby said, her eyes narrowed at Taiyang.

"No. It doesn't. You're right. But what does it change, Ruby?" Taiyang said.

"What does it change?! It changes the fact that you're not my actual dad! It changes that Yang isn't my actual sister! It changes that the uncle I adored all my life was actually my father!" Ruby said, louder this time.

"Does it change how you feel towards me? Or towards Yang?" Taiyang replied.

"Well of course because.. " Ruby said before her words trailed off.

"Ruby. When I married Summer, I knew that when you were born, you were not mine. That I wasn't your real father. But I loved Summer, Ruby. And I love you. You're as much my daughter as Yang is. And I'm sure that if you tell Yang that Qrow is your actual father, nothing changes between you. " Taiyang said.

Ruby turned slightly red. "I just.. Thought.."

"There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss Summer. But at least we can safely say we're very proud of _our_ daughter." Taiyang said with a smile.

Ruby sat with her head downward. She felt ashamed. In her anger and her fury she had forgotten what the truth was. And the truth was that Taiyang was as still her father. Yang was still her sister. The label didn't matter. The memories mattered. All the years and all the things that had happened as a family, that was what mattered.

"Ruby. Don't ever forget. Whatever happens. You will _always_ be my daughter."

Ruby looked up at Taiyang - no, _her father_ \- and smiled.

"Okay, dad."

Taiyang smiled at her, then stretched and yawned. "It's late, Ruby. You could sleep here if you want. I'd understand if you wanted some time to think about it all. But I'm fairly certain that your friends are worried. I think especially Jaune.".

".. Wait how'd you kno-" Ruby said, slightly flustered.

"Oh please. Awkward shy girl meets dashing blonde stud. It's basically Summer and me."

Ruby just planted her face in her hands.

"He's a good kid, though. I met him a couple of times when you were still out. He never left your side."

Ruby looked up curiously.

"Anyway. It's time for me to hit the hay. Let your friends know whatever you decide, alright? I'll see you again, little rascal." Taiyang said and chuckled at his joke as he kissed the top of Ruby's head and made his way up the stairs.

Ruby sat alone in the kitchen for a moment until she pulled out her scroll and messaged Jaune.

 _I'm sorry. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow. Everything was just confusing. Had to get away. I'm in Patch. Love you._

Ruby put her scroll down. Shortly after, it buzzed.

 _Okay. Just let me know alright? I love you too. Wish you were here in bed with me._

Ruby flustered slightly at the words, her mind having wandered elsewhere with his statement. Sighing to herself, she clicked off the kitchen lights and went up the stairs to her room.

 _So I can hold you! Sorry! I didn't mean that!_

Ruby chuckled to herself and imagined Jaune's flustered face. She fell into the bed and fell into a fitful sleep.

* * *

Ruby didn't wake up well rested. But she woke up feeling a lot more clear. Looking out her window, she saw it was still very early in the morning. _I probably only slept a few hours. I'll go back now then._ Ruby decided. Donning all her armor again, she made her way down the stairs where Taiyang was busy making coffee in the kitchen, humming a song to himself.

"Ah, Hello there sweet child of mine, how are you this morning?" he said cheerily.

Ruby chuckled. "Hey dad. I'm better. Thanks. I needed our talk last night."

"No need to thank me." he said, putting down a second cup of coffee with a chocolate chip cookie over the top of it.

"Dad. You shouldn't have." Ruby said, chuckling a little bit as she dipped the cookie in the cup and took a bite off of it.

"Oh these were still here. Yang always used to get them. Didn't eat them as much. I think it helped with missing you." Taiyang said, taking a large chug from his coffee.

Ruby chuckled again as she continued to drink her coffee and eat her cookie.

"So. What's next?" Taiyang said.

"I'm going back to Vale soon. Then I'll talk with Jaune, Yang, Blake and Weiss about yesterday." Ruby said.

"And Qrow?"

Ruby sighed. "I don't know. I don't even know if I could face him now."

"Sure you can. It'd be with a lot of screaming and the likes. But you'd face him." Taiyang said, chuckling into his mug as he took another sip. "Do you know why?"

"Why?" Ruby asked, smiling at him.

"Because you're as stubborn as your mother." Taiyang said.

The both of them laughed for a moment before Ruby downed the rest of her coffee.

"I should probably be getting back dad." Ruby sighed and smiled at Taiyang.

Just as Taiyang had taken a sip he held up his hands to her while he quickly made his way out of the kitchen to his room. Ruby raised an eyebrow at him as he came back into the kitchen with a large black box. It had dust on the top of it, clearly showing it hadn't been used in a long while.

"I think you're ready for this." Taiyang said with a smile as he popped open the locks on the box and opened it.

Her mother's cloak. Ruby held her breath as she saw it. It had been over twenty years since she had last seen it. Shakingly, she grabbed hold of it, the fine fabric soft her hands.

"I want you to have it."

Ruby looked up at Taiyang.

"Yes. I mean you. It was Summer's, but you're her splitting image."

"Dad.. I can't-" Ruby stammered.

"Ruby. There is nothing in this life you can't do. You've been the youngest Beacon student ever, you mastered the wielding of a gun scythe and you're basically a legend." He said, smiling proudly. "Take it. She would want you to."

Slowly and carefully, Ruby took the cloak from the box and held it in her hands. It felt surreal.

"Now, didn't you have somewhere to be?" Taiyang said, before smiling at her.

"Thanks dad." Ruby said, hugging Taiyang tightly.

"Don't mention it." he returned.

Ruby stared again at the cloak in her hands as she stood in front of her mother's grave again.

"Hey mom." Ruby started.

"So. I'm back. I talked to dad. I know the truth now."

Silence again, was her only answer. But Ruby wasn't looking for an answer.

"It's weird, mom. I only knew you for three years. Yet everyone tells me I'm your splitting image." Ruby said, sighing a little.

"Dad gave me your cloak."

"He said I was 'ready' ".

The wind rushed by Ruby, making her cloak and hair wave.

"I guess I am." Ruby said and gently placed the white cloak on the grave.

Her hands went to the cross-like clasps on her cloak and unhooked the deep scarlet cloak. Ruby neatly folded it and took the white and red cloak from her mother's grave, replacing it with the deep scarlet one.

She flung the cloak around herself and attached the clasps to it. She took one long last look at the grave, the folded cloak sitting neatly atop it.

"If I'm the Summer Maiden, I'll gladly take up your mantle." Ruby said, smiling.

"I will make you proud.".

* * *

Jaune rubbed his face and grabbed hold of his scroll. No new messages. Sighing he turned around in the bed, missing the void of his.. _Girlfriend? I guess?_

He looked at the time. Just shy of half past six. He had hoped Ruby would be back right now. Jaune swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stared at his armor leaning against the wall. After Blake and Yang decided that they'd stick around, they had moved into Ruby's room at the hotel. They had said that they didn't mind sharing. Jaune hoped that when she returned he'd at least find her in his room. Ruby hadn't been using it anyway since she had been in the hospital.

Ruby. _What would've caused her to react like this,_ Jaune wondered as he got ready for the day. Putting on his armor - which he had repaired after it was fairly heavily damaged - Jaune went downstairs to grab some breakfast. As he walked outside he saw someone walk up to the hotel in the most beautiful cloak. He smiled inwardly to himself at how much it reminded him of Ruby with her cloak.

Jaune became confused however when he noticed the intended destination wasn't the hotel, but him. He tried to quickly draw his sword before the person in white threw their arms around Jaune and placed their lips on his for a brief moment.

"Hey Jaune." Ruby breathed against his lips as she gently held his face.

"Ruby?" He asked, still confused. He saw a familiar deep scarlet red lining the inside of the cloak, but still.

"I had to be away for a moment, Jaune. I'm sorry. But I'm better now." she breathed again before placing her lips on his again. Passion filled their kiss as Jaune held her in his arms.

"I.. what.." Jaune stammered out after their lips disconnected again.

Ruby giggled.

It took a moment for Jaune to process that.

Ruby. Actually giggled again.

"What happened? With Qrow, I mean." Jaune asked.

Ruby sighed, but looked dreamily at him.

"It's a bit of a weird story. Let's get something to eat first."


	15. Chapter 15: Direction

**Hi again. Sorry for the late update. There's some major-level bullshit going on at my studies that I'm trying to find a way to rectify. Aside from that my Girlfriend was home for a couple of days so I was busy with that (she's studying abroad).**

 **Anyway,** **I am still considering switching to a M tag for this story. I'd like to hear input on that. If you find a thing or have an idea of some sorts; Feel free to PM me. I'm always open to hear suggestions.**

 **Anyway, I won't hold you up any longer.**

 **I present you Chapter 15: Direction.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Direction

Ruby gently tapped her fingers on the coffee cup as she finished talking. The rest of her team and Jaune looked to be absolutely stunned as they stared wide-eyed at her. Ruby took a bite from the cookie she had bought along with her coffee as she waited for them to comprehend what she had just told them.

"So.. Qrow..? Is your dad..?" Weiss started, the bewildered look in her eyes still as humorous to Ruby as it had been all those years ago.

"Apparently, yes." Ruby said, and calmly took a sip from her coffee. It kind of stung to drink, her throat not fully healed from yesterday's events yet, but the bruises had healed at least.

"And.. You are.. I mean.. The Summer.." Jaune whispered.

"Yes. I am the Summer Maiden because my Mom was." Ruby said, calmly again as she smiled at Jaune.

".. Ruby, you do know what this means, right..? That we were never.. " Yang started before Ruby put her cup down on the little bistro table and quickly grabbed Yang's hand.

"Yang. It doesn't change anything. You're as much my sister as anything. Maybe not by blood anymore, but does that change the past? Not for me. Don't worry, you'll always be my big sister." Ruby finished and smiled at Yang.

"So.. Now what, Ruby?" Blake asked, seemingly a lot more normal and calm. However when she spoke, she looked with worry. Not at Ruby, but at Yang. Ruby made a mental note of that.

"Well. I still have only the sketch to go on. There's been no new intel from Atlas. I don't think Qrow's up for talking about that sort of thing anytime soon." Ruby sighed and gulped down the last of her coffee. "Honestly, I have no idea."

When the pad on Ruby's arm started pinging, she instantly sat up again. A hologram of Penny appeared. "Ruby, Jaune. General Ironwood has a new mission for you two. The rest of your team will need to see Headmaster Qrow for a mission as well. And Weiss, Winter wishes to speak to you after the mission briefing." Penny quickly said, her tone serious and quick. As quickly as she had appeared, Penny disappeared.

"Well. I think we got a plan now.." Ruby said as she stood up. "Let's meet again after the briefings?".

* * *

The terminal hummed to life as Ruby started it up and input all the codes needed to get into the system. Atlas security being.. Well, Atlas security, it was plenty.

"So.. the White Cloak. It's your mom's, right?" Jaune asked. He was leaning against the wall with his back, their weapons leaning against the bed.

Ruby sighed and smiled. "Yes it is.".

A moment of silence passed between them as Ruby input the codes.

"You seem a lot better. More.."

"Me?" Ruby quickly filled in for Jaune.

"Yeah. Well, a different you. But still more you. If that makes sense." Jaune said.

"Well. It's not really everyday that you hear that the person you've thought was your uncle for years was actually your dad and blames himself for my mom's death which is part of the reason why he couldn't raise you." Ruby sighed.

"Yeah. I guess so." Jaune chuckled and another moment passed between them.

"Do _you_ blame him, Ruby?" Jaune said and Ruby turned towards him with wide eyes.

"Ruby?" Jaune asked again, his tone now laced with worry.

 _Do I blame him?_ Ruby thought to herself. She looked to her feet as she descended deep in thought again. _I blame him for a lot of things. For lying. For not caring for me the way a father should. For leaving me alone with that grief for all those years._

 _But do I blame him for Mom's death?_ Ruby continued in her head. _No._

"Ruby, do you blame him for your mother's death?" Jaune's voice sounded again as Ruby got out of her trance-like state.

"No. I don't blame him." Ruby said, her voice a lot softer. "What my mom did, I think she did because she believed it to be the right thing to do, like a Hero should. He said he tried to stop her, and I believe him. But he left her alone. Although it wasn't his fault she died, I can see how he thinks that. But I don't. I just hate the fact that in her last moments, my mother was alone."

Ruby sighed deeply.

"I guess I am sort of continuing my mom's legacy because of, well, my powers and her cloak. Not to mention her ideals. So that kind of reliefs me a little." Ruby said, turning again towards the terminal. "I just don't really know what to do with Qrow right now, and there's more important things happening. So first let's find out what the hell Ironwood wants. He's owing me an explanation as well."

Jaune placed his hand gently on Ruby's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. Ruby looked at him questioningly and raised her head towards him before Jaune placed his lips on hers. The kiss was soft and tender. Ruby felt as if she melted into the kiss, her stomach fluttering. Their lips disconnected and Jaune smiled at her.

"I love you." Jaune said. Ruby's brain malfunctioned for a brief moment. First he asked her about Qrow, now he was kissing with such tenderness and telling her he loved her? The sudden switch of tone confused her greatly.

"I uh. I love you too." Ruby said, a bit perplexed still. She managed a smile back through the confusion. She'd ask him later. Typing in the last few codes, the terminal's screen faded before opening up to a console. A few seconds passed before a video-feed popped up with James Ironwood standing in his usual posture, the stiff stance of an army man.

Jaune and Ruby both saluted as they saw his image appear.

"At ease." Ironwood said and the both of them relaxed again.

"I read the full report on the mission. It seems your victory was hard-fought. Congratulations." Ironwood spoke, his words genuine.

"Thank you sir." Ruby and Jaune both said.

"I trust you have fully recovered, Ruby?" Ironwood asked, this time his tone authorative again.

"Yes. Although there have been some interesting developments.." Ruby said, letting her words trail off.

"Ah. Yes. I have heard. I presume you'll want to know why we have kept the truth from you regarding your powers." Ironwood said, his tone still authoritative sounding.

"Yes sir." Ruby said. She still had the military discipline in her from all the years with Atlas, and she knew to disrespect 'her General' wasn't taken lightly. Ruby'd need to keep calm and be satisfied with what he would tell her. In a strange way, she felt like she owed him for this life she was leading anyways. For realizing her dream.

"Undoubtedly you'll have a lot of questions. I will open up all the information we have on the subject for you. And the reason why we have kept it from you, and anyone for that matter, is for the protection of the world." Ironwood said.

 _Protection of the world..?_ Ruby thought to herself. "I'm sorry I don't quite understand sir. Protection of the world?"

"Yes. The Maidens' powers are still very much vague. However, Cinder Fall had managed to find a way to extract them from a Maiden and grant herself those powers. The less the world knows of the maidens' existence, the safer it will be so that those intending to take the powers for themselves never get the opportunity to." Ironwood continued. "Which is why we try to hide the Maidens. However, since Cinder told you about your powers, it is safe to assume that the person that granted her the power to take away Maidens' knows as well."

"I'm sorry, someone else gave her those powers?" Jaune interjected, leaning over Ruby's shoulder.

"Yes. However the rest of that information is classified. So I would advise you not to attempt to brute-force your way into the intelligence banks again, Mr. Arc." Ironwood replied, his tone laced with irritation.

"Understood, sir." Jaune said.

"But shouldn't I know atleast what is trying to get at me?" Ruby said.

"Ruby, understand that for now there is no danger. We have anticipated this situation. It is part of the reason why I needed you two to go to Vale. And, why I'm sending you two to Mistral next." Ironwood continued.

"Sir, Mistral? Why?" Ruby said.

"To unlock your full potential."

* * *

Yang felt on edge as she, Blake and Weiss ascended to the Headmasters' office. The news of Qrow being Ruby's father had a significant impact on her. She wanted nothing more to smash her Uncle's face in. Suddenly, she felt a small hand on her shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Blake said, her voice soft. _Why did she always do that. It's as if she just knows when something's wrong and how to react perfectly to it. Even after all those years._

"Yeah. Just. Pissed." Yang replied, quickly.

"I would very much like for you to calm down because you're making it feel like a sauna in here." Weiss said, adding a sarcastic eyeroll.

Yang smiled to herself. So many years, but even so the team still felt natural. It was strange how things changed so much, but pretty much everything stayed the same.

"Well now Ice Queen, you could use some warming up yourself." Yang said and nudged her elbow lightly in the side of Weiss.

"Now what's that supposed to mean, you brute?!" Weiss said, her face clearly flushed from embarrassment.

Blake giggled a little. _Gods, how I missed that sound._

"I don't know Ice Queen, you tell me." Yang teased again.

Weiss palmed her face. "I can't believe that 'Ice Queen' still stuck after ten years. Grow up. I mean it."

Blake and Yang just laughed, after a short moment Weiss couldn't help herself to laugh as well.

It didn't take much longer for the elevator to reach the top. Immediately, Yang stiffened again as she saw Qrow sitting at his desk. Blake quickly slid her hand into Yang's and squeezed it gently. It helped, Yang's posture softening. The three of them stepped out of the elevator towards the desk. Winter stood behind Qrow, leaned against the window.

Determined, Yang stepped inside, letting go of Blake's hand. _In and out. Keep yourself under control, Yang._ She thought to herself, keeping her semblance in check.

"So. I'm not going to bullshit you three. I have a mission. An important one. And I'd much rather have you three do it then one of the other teams." Qrow said, his tone grave.

Weiss, Blake and Yang looked at each other, then back at Qrow.

"I need you three to hunt someone." Qrow quickly said.

"Need? We're not under your control, you know." Weiss said, her mouth becoming a thin stripe.

"I know. But you know now that there are forces at play that are beyond us and petty disputes. That's why I said, I need you three to do this." Qrow said.

"Okay. Hypothetically speaking, we agree. If we're hunting someone, it might be valuable to know who we're hunting." Blake said.

Qrow looked at Yang for a moment. There was a glimmer of sadness in him. He threw his scroll on the desk and immediately the holograms flittered around with all the information.

Yang's heart froze as she saw the picture of the one they're supposed to hunt, along with a name.

"Raven Branwen." Yang whispered. Her semblance flared up again as Blake tried to grab her hand to calm her down but Yang made her way over to the desk again, slamming her fists down on it.

"We're hunting my mother?! _**Your sister!?**_ " Yang yelled at him.

"Yes." Qrow said, standing as well and staring her down. Their red eyes stared into each other in defiance and stubbornness.

"Why?" Yang said, gritting her teeth almost painfully.

"Because she's the one leading the White Fang. Always has been." Qrow said. "I told you she had an unique world view. It's one where she believes our world is rotten. And she intends to use the White Fang to destroy everything that makes it so."

"But, I used to be with the White Fang. Adam-" Blake said.

"Adam Taurus was nothing more than a puppet to Raven. He did lead the White Fang, we found out, but he was never the big shot. Raven's been. That's why she took the fool as her apprentice." Qrow spat, his stare-down of Yang not wavering.

"Why didn't you stop her, then?" Weiss said, hand tentatively on Myrtenaster. She looked to Winter quickly, similarly standing.

"Because aside from being my sister, she is much more powerful than I am." Qrow said.

Yang's semblance only flared more and more, heating the room to be nearly unbearable. "Then what makes you think we can take her." Yang said, the words nearly venom in her mouth.

"Because you are her daughter. And as I could never fight her fully, she cannot fight you fully. She's a shit mother, but will not be the one to kill her own child." Qrow said, before he was punched back into his chair and rolled away.

"She might be. But you don't get to speak that way about her after what you've done to Ruby." Yang spat at him. Slowly her semblance lessened.

"Yeah. I guess it's Branwen style of parenting." Qrow laughed as he looked up at the ceiling. "But I'm going to need an answer."

Yang looked at Blake and Weiss. Both of them nodded.

"We'll do it.".

"Good. Take the information and start whenever. The earlier we find her, the earlier we can get the White Fang to stop their violent destruction and find solutions instead of death." Qrow said, as he rubbed his jaw to stem the pain.

Yang nodded, still angrily looking at Qrow. Blake and Yang turned and walked towards the elevator. "We'll see you back at the hotel, okay Weiss?" Blake said. Weiss nodded as the doors of the elevator closed.

"Let's go somewhere a little more private, Weiss." Winter said as she gently placed her hand on Weiss' shoulder. Weiss turned to look at her before they were both engulfed in whiteness, before arriving at the same terrace she had last spoken to her sister at ten years ago.

Weiss felt her stomach lurch for a short moment, before it settled and she was able to keep it down. "Ah. Yes. I should probably have told you to prepare yourself for that. It's something that took me a while to.. Get used to." Winter said, drawing one of the chairs from the little table. "Please. Sit."

"I.. what.. How?" Weiss said as she sat, holding her stomach. Winter chuckled a bit.

"I don't sit still Weiss. Glyph summoning goes beyond summoning other beings. We can also summon ourselves to other places. Or summon others from other places. But it costs a lot of Aura for more people or larger distances." Winter said.

"Wait. 'We'? You mean I could learn this as well?" Weiss said.

"Yes. Unfortunately, that's not why I wanted to speak to you." Winter said, as her expression turned grave. "Father's done something.. drastic, Weiss."

"What, he stopped my account again? I've got enough lien to last me a while." Weiss said, scoffing a little.

"No, Weiss." Winter said.

"He has disowned you."


	16. Chapter 16: Ghosts

**STUDIES. ARE. OVER. For now. I've had a long couple of weeks and have to do a few small things, but all things considered I am done for summer. In September I will start my internship, but until then I will be basically free. So I want to start working on this story quite a lot more. I will make no promises, because life has interesting ways to shake up your schedule.**

 **I have also decided to bite the bullet and change to an M rating. This is for things short-term and long-term. Now, I will warn when certain mature or adult situations might occur, but the story is just set up this way in my mind. I'm sorry for those that were hoping it was staying T. My bad.**

 **Also, I'd love to hear from you guys. Reading Reviews is awesome and Pm's are fine with me still. I am planning another story right now that'll be set in the Warcraft universe and based on the Demon Hunters come legion ( I got into the beta and let me tell you, their lore is awesome.).**

 **Anyway, I won't hold up any longer. I present you Chapter 16: Ghosts.**

* * *

Chapter 16: Ghosts

"We're almost at Haven." Jaune said. Ruby looked up from her scroll, finishing the message she had been typing.

"Okay." she replied and stuffed the scroll in the pocket of her skirt. They had taken only a bag each to Mistral, orders of Ironwood. Supposedly, they were to meet up with someone who had mastered the Aura, whom could 'unbound' Ruby's soul. To Ruby, it seemed a lot of spiritual nonsense.

"You ready? I mean, I wouldn't really know what for. But I mean.." Jaune said, stumbling over his words as he sat down next to her.

Chuckling a little, Ruby leaned with her head on Jaune's shoulder. "I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing either. So I have no idea if I'm ready. But if it helps us stop whatever is going on, I'm fine with it."

"Who were you messaging?" Jaune asked, tilting his head to look at her.

"Weiss. She said she was fine but.." Ruby sighed. "I know it's troubling her. I just hope Yang and Blake can support her through this."

Jaune smiled to himself and kissed the top of Ruby's head. Ruby looked up with an inquisitive look.

"What? Can't a guy kiss his girlfriend on the head?" Jaune said, smiling mischievously.

"Well. Yes. I think.. I just thought you.." Ruby started, blushing a little at being called girlfriend. It still sounded alien in her head.

"Meant something by it?" Jaune finished for her. "Yeah. I did. In the past two weeks you've been seriously wounded, recovered to talk to Neo and get the life nearly choked out of you, found out that the person you always thought was your uncle was actually your dad and that you're basically someone with powers approaching those of myths. But here you are taking care of someone close to you without even thinking about those things, and putting ahead their well being instead of yours."

Ruby opened her mouth to respond, only to close it again once she found she had none.

"That's what I admire about you, you know. You're always taking care of those around you without even taking a second thought." Jaune said.

"I uh.. Well.. thanks." Ruby said, blushing profusely as she looked away.

Jaune gently kissed her cheek. "No problem."

Ruby fumbled around with her fingers before glancing over at Jaune again. Unable to stop herself and her feelings, she jumped onto his lap, placing her lips passionately against his. Her hands roamed to his hair and explored it as she spread her fingers to feel even more of it.

Jaune held his arms up in surprise. But soon he reciprocated Ruby's frenzied kiss and placed his hands on her hips.

Ruby needed this. She needed that closeness. Jaune had been right, she had put others' needs in front of her own. And she would always do that for those she loved. But it still didn't take away that sometimes she needed something for herself. In the past, it would've been something like Cookies or doing maintenance on Crescent Rose. But now, it was Jaune. She swore she could hear the sound of her own heartbeat as she slipped her tongue into the kiss.

Ruby didn't want it to end, however Jaune had started tapping on her hip. Slowly she removed her lips and leaned her forehead against his.

"What is it..?" she asked him as she breathed feverishly and stared into his eyes.

"We uhh.. Just landed.." Jaune said, managing an awkward chuckle and a smile. His whole head had colored red. Ruby swore it was as red as the paint of Crescent Rose.

"Oh." Ruby said, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she remained unmoved.

"Don't we need to.. You know.. Get off of the airship..?" Jaune said, laughing a little as he looked at cargo door, which had started hissing at the hydraulic hinges.

"Maybe.. But I'm quite comfortable where I'm at." Ruby said, smiling victoriously as her boyfriend (Wow, it sounded even more alien to her to call Jaune that) struggled with the situation underneath her.

"Ruby, please." Jaune pleaded, the cargo door slowly opening and the light filtering through.

Ruby laughed as she got off of Jaune's lap and grabbed her bag. "Sorry. I just.. You were right, about the 'putting others ahead of myself'-thing." Ruby said, sighing a little as she looked at him. "It just means a lot to me to hear you say it."

The shock of the situation settled down a little in Jaune as he took his bag as well. "Well. It's the truth. So yeah. Uh. Yeah." he said, clearing his throat. The blush on his cheeks slowly faded away.

It took a few moments for the Cargo Door to finally open. Ironwood told Ruby and Jaune they'd meet up with someone who was well versed in Aura and it's teachings, and thus could help Ruby unlock the full potential. Now however, the challenge was finding that person. They walked off of the landing platform into the terminal, searching for any indication of the person they were supposed to meet.

As they were making their way through the masses, Jaune suddenly stopped. Ruby looked at him, his eyes turned towards something in the distance. Ruby made her way back over to him before her eyes turned towards where he was looking. Immediately, she felt a lump in her throat.

"Is that.." Ruby asked.

"Yes." Jaune replied.

"Gods.. I can't.."

"Me neither, Ruby."

Their hands connected and their fingers intertwined as the both of them made their way over to the mother of the ghost they learned to let go.

"Ah. Hello again." she spoke. "It's so good to see you two again. What has it been, ten years?"

* * *

Weiss sighed to herself as she read Ruby's message. She was fine. She had told Ruby multiple times. Why wouldn't she just listen? It wasn't if anything really much changed. Well, except for not being able to use her last name ever again. _Or what_ was _my last name._ Weiss thought to herself.

They had been driving for a while now. Supposedly there was some activity from Raven, whom turned out to be the true leader of the White Fang, in the southwest of Vale, far from the city borders, bordering on the edge. The land where they were supposed to go to wasn't usually driven to. Mostly because of rampant Grimm in the area.

Weiss remembered reading reports from the situation in Vale after the city was almost completely destroyed. While the evacuations had certainly helped in preserving the life of the masses, there was a large struggle for food and clean water. It had been Atlas who had first offered their aid, quickly followed by Mistral. Vacuo however seemed quite reluctant, and ended up not granting any aid to Vale.

Weiss always wondered why. They were the only kingdoms that were actually connected to each other by land, so it would make sense for Vacuo to help them, as it would mean that the Grimm from the east would not encroach on their lands. It didn't make any sense to her.

"What's up buttercup?" Yang said, head leaned over the back of the seat in the pickup truck. Blake was driving and paying much attention to the road. After the situation with Cinder, or rather with Adam, Yang's hair had been cut short. For some reason she kept it short.

"Nothing. Just thinking of something." Weiss said, hoping the blonde would switch her attention to the road again.

"Thinking of what?" Yang replied, her tone impish.

 _Great._ Weiss thought to herself. Knowing that Yang wouldn't drop the subject until she would answer properly, Weiss figured she might as well tell the truth.

"When Vale was attacked, Atlas and Mistral sent a lot of aid to the Kingdom to help rebuild. Vacuo however didn't. It doesn't make much sense to me. Also, there is rarely anything coming out of Vacuo these days. It's almost like they've disappeared from the face of Remnant." Weiss said.

"That's because they closed everything after the attack in Vale." Blake replied dryly.

Both Yang and Weiss turned to look at Blake.

"Say what now?" Yang said in disbelief.

"Vacuo closed down. The communications tower is only set to broadcast at local level, the borders are completely shut and the ports are shut down. There's a curfew and anyone outside at curfew gets arrested." Blake continued.

"And how do you know all of this?" Weiss asked.

"I used to do Qrow's dirty work. I've been to Vacuo a few times." Blake said, before sighing and continuing, "It's not very pretty there right now.".

"So, wait, you're telling me that the people in Vacuo just let that happen? I mean, there's hunters and huntresses right? Surely _they_ would do something against something like that?" Yang said, leaning back in her seat and placing her hands behind her head as she kicked up her feet on the dashboard.

"I don't know exactly what happened. But those that agreed with the Kingdom's decision were okay to stay and still help in reinforcing the rule of Vacuo. Those that didn't are imprisoned. I haven't been there in a couple of months, so I wouldn't know how the situation is right now." Blake finished. Yang scoffed at it as Weiss returned to her thoughts.

The road steadily became more uneven, the wear and tear of past use combined with the fact that no one had gone out this way in quite some time to maintain the roads causing multiple pot holes.

Weiss looked out the window. The seasons were changing, summer slowly turning to fall with each dropped leaf. A shame, Weiss thought. She liked the green forests of Vale. She would've liked to see them a bit longer. Then something caught her eye. Black specs, recurring every now and then. Past the trees, she could see them tracking them.

"Yang, Blake. I think we're being tracked." Weiss said, her mind immediately on alert to react on a moment's notice.

"Yes. Yes we are. They've been with us since we crossed the city borders." Blake said.

"And.. you didn't think to tell us.. Why?" Yang asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at Blake as she looked into the rearview mirror at her, former but now again, partner.

"Because they're not White Fang." Blake said and smiled broadly.

"Then who are they?" Weiss asked.

"So, you remember when your sister went to ask again for Neo's release…?" Blake said, smirking slyly at Yang.

Instantly Yang lost her balance but found it again quickly. She stared with wide eyes at Blake. "Neo? Neo's tracking us?!" Yang yelled.

"Yes, Yang. She's been the one that's making this drive so pleasant. The Grimm are being led away by her illusions. Come on, it's been a week. Did you seriously not think that after Ruby tried to help her as much as she did, she would quit?" Blake said, chuckling a little at the bewildered response of Yang.

"Seriously Yang, I knew that and I was dealing with being disowned." Weiss replied dryly.

"Well, I don't know, I didn't figure her for the type of person that would forgive someone that tried to choke them to death?!" Yang yelled again.

"Settle down. Neo is cool. She just had ghosts she didn't face." Blake said.

"Gods know we had those." Weiss sighed.

Yang contemplated the statement for a moment. Blake had been feeling regret for what happened to Yang, and felt responsible for it. Weiss had obviously been locked away by her father and was now let go to put it bluntly. Yang herself had blamed others for leaving her when she needed them.

"Okay." Yang said before settling in the seat again.

Both Blake and Weiss looked at Yang after her simple reply.

"I.. uhh. What?" Weiss said, perplexed.

"Well, you're right. We have had our own ghosts. And we dealt with them and became all the better for it. While Neo might have done what she did, it was the ghosts in her that spurred her on to do it. I guess I can forgive that. Ten years is too long a time to hold a grudge." Yang said, finishing with a sigh. "And if Ruby trusts her, I'm willing to give it a try. She's the one that always sees the best in someone anyway."

"Wow.." Blake breathed. "That's really mature of you, Ya-".

"Also, I don't want to let her get the better of me." Yang quickly said before scoffing.

Weiss and Blake let out a collective sigh.

* * *

This was just straight up weird. Ten years ago they had sat in this very room trying to comfort the person they were talking to because they had to deliver the horrible news that her daughter had died valiantly defending Beacon.

And here they were again. This time to unlock the powers in Ruby that Pyrrha had been destined to wield, albeit in a different form. It felt so surreal, like they were betraying Pyrrha by being here.

"How are Ren and Nora?" she asked, as she took a sip from her tea.

"They've gotten married and have a child now, Ms. Nikos." Ruby replied politely. Ruby could face any Grimm without flinching, but this was something else. She didn't know how to react except for answer her questions. How would you react when the connection they have with you is because of their dead child?

"Really? Hm. When I met Nora, I hadn't thought of her ever settling down." she said contemplative. "And you can call me Phare, Ruby. As can you, Jaune." Phare added with a smile.

A quiet moment passed between them before Jaune started. "How have you been, Phare?".

"It's been a tough few years, to be sure. However I have dedicated them in learning more about Aura. Busy work, to be sure, but it helped me understand many things of our world." Phare said, managing a weaker smile at him this time.

"Do you know why we're here..?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

"Yes, Ruby. I do." Phare said, taking a small sip of her tea. "You're here because the immense power in you needs to be unbound. When you came here ten years ago, I thought I noticed _something_ in you. When I received the call from General James Ironwood, I knew there was something larger at play."

"Do you know how to do it?" Ruby asked.

"Yes. I do. However controlling your powers will be.. A challenge to be sure. Luckily, you have brought Jaune. It's good to see that Pyrrha's influence lives forth in both of you. Either by ideals in you, or in the waves of Aura rolling off of you, Jaune." Phare said, finishing her tea and placing the cup and saucer on the plate.

"I .. uhh.. Don't quite follow.." Jaune said, looking confused at Phare.

Phare laughed a little. "Do you remember the words my daughter spoke to you such a long time ago, when she unlocked your Aura?" she said, looking at Jaune.

Jaune thought for a moment. _For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee._ "Yes, but wait, how did you know that..".

"That my daughter unlocked your aura? I can sense it, Jaune. But please, both of you, follow me." Phare said and stood up, out of the room towards the back of the house.

Both Jaune and Ruby followed, confused about where they were going.

"When Pyrrha still lived at home, I trained with her a lot to hone her abilities. At some point, even had a special arena made so she could practice." Phare said, walking along a path through a beautiful garden. The house was very large, the garden as much so.

Ruby looked at the older woman and could see the resemblance of Pyrrha in her. The auburn hair combined with a long copper and deep brown robe showed clearly where Pyrrha got her colors from.

Both Jaune and Ruby stood in awe as they entered a large stone arena. It wasn't very detailed, but there was a lot of space and equipment in it. "This will be where we will help you hone your powers, Ruby. However, there is one thing that needs to be done first." Phare said.

"Jaune, do you remember anything of the process of how Pyrrha unlocked your Aura?" Phare asked of him.

Jaune furrowed his brow in thought. After a moment, he looked up at Phare. "Yes, I .. I think I do."

"Good. Then please, help Ruby unlock her Maiden soul." Phare said and took a step back from the both of them.

Ruby looked at Jaune. For some reason there was a pit in her stomach. She wasn't afraid of unexpected things.. But this was literally fusing her soul with the Maiden's. She was afraid of the change.

"Okay." Jaune said, pumping himself up with a couple of deep breaths. "Ruby. I uhh. I need you to concentrate when I connect to you alright? Help me find it.".

Ruby nodded at him. Gently, Jaune placed his hand on her cheek and his other hand on her heart. Ruby felt a weird calm wash over her as she closed her eyes and focused on where the foreign entity in her soul was. She felt Jaune reach out to it, in a weird manner.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality.." Jaune started.

Ruby felt it being fed the white Aura she presumed was Jaune's. She felt as if it unwinded something in her, an increasingly tingling feeling spreading through her body.

"Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all.." Jaune continued.

It felt as if a large pressure was taken from her as she felt the change in her own Aura. The red of her own aura mixed with the white from her Maiden's soul, becoming part of each other while being their own.

"Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." Jaune finished.

Ruby could feel the last binding unlock inside of her and completely release the Maiden's soul. She gasped loudly as she felt it, power washing over her in unimaginable waves. Jaune removed his hands from Ruby. She could feel Jaune's aura still fueling the last of her Maiden's as it completed the fusing inside.

Opening her eyes, she stared into Jaune's eyes. He was smiling at her. Ruby's heart swelled as she looked at him, powerful feelings fighting in her heart. She immediately crossed the distance between them, embracing him and holding onto him for dear life with the largest grin she thought she'd ever have.

"Thank you, Jaune." she whispered in his ear.


	17. Chapter 17: Release

**Allright. I want to claim this is like a super special 200 Follower special (Seriously. What the hell. You guys are amazing. Thanks for all the support so far), but as of writing this Author's Note I'm at 199. Eh, smeh, have a massive chapter anyways.**

 **So in this chapter I want to make clear that the M tag will be warranted. This is not the only reason why the M tag will be used for Weapons Pointed at the Enemy - Redux from now on, however it's been something that I had planned from the start of the story. You're very welcome to skip it if it's not your cup of tea and I will respect you for that.**

 **Anyways, I won't distract any longer. I proudly present: Chapter 17: Release.**

* * *

Chapter 17: Release

Ruby felt like she would fall over from exhaustion. Well, she had done so already in a way. After her powers had been unlocked, they had trained endlessly. Mostly on the basics of learning to deal with her Aura before switching to using it in combat. Phare had been relentless in the training. She could certainly why Pyrrha had become so strong.

After she had down the basics, Ruby had to go all out against Jaune. No weapons, no armor. Just her fists and whatever powers would manifest for her to use. Of course still had his semblance, which caused some troubles for Ruby. She found that she could more consciously channel her aura to enhance her punches, but in turn the power of the attack was reflected by him.

Ruby stood up again, wiping away some of the sweat on her brow. Jaune smiled at her from behind his fists, which were held close to his body defensively in a stance that reminded her of Yang.

"Come on Ruby, I'm supposed to be the wimp." Jaune joked, breathing heavily. While it was true that his semblance reflections hurt, the sheer power Ruby now possessed and channeled had done a number on his aura.

Ruby smiled back at him before brushing away the hair sticking to her forehead before taking up a stance. She closed the distance between them and swung at Jaune's ribs to make an opening. Jaune took the bait, blocking her blow with his elbow leaving a small area of his stomach open. Returning the hand, Ruby struck out with the other. She felt Jaune's semblance activate, but not fully manifest, causing him to still feel a large amount of the blow.

Jaune staggered backwards, trying to keep his stance. "Now that was just mean." he breathed before lunging at her. His exhaustion combined with the recent hit he took was enough for Ruby to grab his arm as he did so and pull him inwards, undoing the stance he was taking. Putting her shoulder in, she punched him hard in the stomach. Ruby didn't realise how hard until he flew a couple of meters out and stumbled against one of the stone walls.

Ruby was dumbstruck for a moment until she noticed what she had done. Quickly she ran to Jaune who groaned audibly for chuckling. "Oh, Gods, I'm so sorry Jaune! I didn't mean to-" she blurted out quickly, trying to find out if he was seriously injured.

"Ruby, I'm fine. I just didn't expect you to punch me into a wall with sheer strength, though. Usually you just outspeed me, but boy, that was.. Eh.. something else." Jaune said, slowly climbing to his feet. Ruby tried her best to support him, despite her own tired body screaming for relaxation.

Phare whistled on her fingers. "Okay. Enough training for today. I can't have you two kill each other with simple hand to hand combat. Especially not on the first day. Ruby, I want you back here again tomorrow morning. We'll start working on controlling your Aura properly without explosions like that."

"Sure thing, Phare." Ruby said and nodded at her. She took Crescent Rose and the rest of her armor under her arm and slung the bag over her shoulder. Jaune picked up his weapon and his armor along with his bag as well. He groaned as he placed the bag over his shoulder, his muscles sore from the beating Ruby had given him and not much Aura left to speed the healing process.

"Also, don't forget that we'll be enjoying dinner together tonight, seeing as you're my guests. So I expect you two in a few hours." Phare finished, before placing the equipment and furnishings back to their original positions.

"Got it." Jaune said, managing a pained smirk. Together, Ruby and Jaune made their way over to the small lodge next to Phare's house. It had taken much insistence of Phare to get the two to accept staying at the house. The fact that this used to be where Pyrrha lived didn't do much to alleviate the strangeness of it all.

When they came to their lodging, it seemed much more like a house than Ruby had expected. It was smaller than her childhood home in Patch, which was understandable provided that it was a 'guest room' as Phare had put it. But still, it was quite large.

The inside was beautiful. Most of the structural elements was made of rich brown wood, while the furniture itself was a few shades lighter and clothed in a deep maroon.

"Wow.." Jaune breathed and dropped his bag on the floor in the small living room.

Ruby did the same, dropping her bag next to his. The both of them went their own way to discover their temporary place. Ruby sighed in relief as she found the bathroom. It was quite large, with a large tub and a raindrop shower being the most notable features of it. Ruby had to stop herself from getting into the shower with her clothes on already, her muscles nearly screaming for the relief of a warm shower.

She closed the door of the bedroom and made her way down the hall, opening an ajar door before to reveal a large bedroom. Jaune laid upon the bed, a large goofy grin on his face and closed eyes.

"I could really get used to this.." he sighed, placing his hands behind his head as Ruby sat down on the bed.

"Oh really, the hotel in Vale not good enough for you?" Ruby said, amusement in her voice.

"It was certainly better than my cot back at Atlas, but this is something else." Jaune said, sighing to himself happily.

"We're only guests Jaune. Remember that. Anyways, I'm going to freshen up and take a shower before dinner. I suggest you do the same." Ruby said, standing up from the bed again.

"Sure thing. Just give me like.. Five minutes…" Jaune yawned.

* * *

Weiss sipped her tea, the hot liquid soothing her mind and body. They had driven quite a distance and decided it would be best for them to stop in the next village. It turned out to be a small village which had a couple of hunters and huntresses defending it from the Grimm. They were able to get two rooms from the village itself.

To make sure that Neo didn't get murdered by Yang, while Yang said she was okay with her, Weiss and Neo shared a room with Blake and Yang sharing the other one. Weiss actually enjoyed this arrangement. Neo of course not being much of a talker helped Weiss think without feeling lonely. Occasionally Neo would point at something and Weiss quickly learned that she was asking 'What is that?' or 'What are you doing with that?'. When Weiss answered, Neo's curiosity was usually sated for a while.

Weiss had been working through the data of the mission to distract herself and further the plan. She had avoided dealing with her father's judgement. Even though she joked about it, she wasn't okay with it. All her life, she had been working towards becoming the next 'Schnee' to lead the company. After Blake had told her about the hardships the faunus faced, in large part because of the Schnee Dust Company, she couldn't sit idly by as he tried to keep her prisoner within Atlas. She had spent much time trying to convince her father to better the treatment of faunus workers, but made no real headway. He had said to her that he would look into it, but Weiss realized it had been merely to satisfy her requests.

She rubbed two fingers in her eyes in frustration. Now what? What was her purpose, her path? She had taken peace with the fact that she would no longer be directly associated with the company after she threw her blazer on her father's desk. But still, she hadn't expected him to do something as drastic as disown her.

The true fact of the matter was that it hurt. She knew she had to put the lives of others' first as a huntress and she had attempted to do so with all her might. Inside, she had still hoped that she could take over the company of her father in time to be able to fix the problems it had due to her father's rule. She wanted to do so because she cared for her family and for its name. She wanted to let the world know that the Schnee family name meant honor and betterment of the world. But all of this didn't matter because of her reckless decisions to go against his will instead of play complacent and ultimately take control of the company.

Weiss sighed heavily. Her father's decision made sense considering the circumstances, but now there was no-one to continue the Schnee legacy, with Winter still being cross with her father and herself being.. No longer part of the family.

She couldn't stop the tears from falling as her frustration boiled over to sadness. She had only meant to help those in need, including her father. But she couldn't sit by as his wicked ways spelled the end for the Schnee legacy. Why couldn't he see this? Why didn't he just listen?

Weiss jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder, instantly looking up at the person that had placed it there. Neo silently looked at Weiss.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, before following Neo's finger to the tears lying on the desk.

"Oh. I'm just.. I'm just dealing with something. Sorry." Weiss said. Neo shook her head, indicating to Weiss that she wasn't satisfied with her answer. First she pointed at Weiss before pointing at herself and then her mouth.

"You.. want me to tell you..?" Weiss asked, wiping away her tears. Neo nodded.

"It's quite personal. I don't know if I'm ready to share something like that with you.. I should just call Ruby, or go to Yang or Blake." Weiss said. "Sorry. I don't mean to offend you but.. You still aided the White Fang.".

Neo shrugged before tilting her head left and right in thought. She then pointed at Weiss before pointing at herself again. Afterwards she gestured locking her mouth with a key and throwing away the key and beamed at Weiss. The difficulty and strangeness of their communication did soothe Weiss a little.

"Well, okay, I know you wouldn't say a word to anyone. But you know, that's because you are, well, mute." Weiss said. Neo rolled her eyes at her and pouted, before smiling again.

"You do have a point, though. I should talk about it. I guess talking about it with you isn't that bad." Weiss said. Neo clapped her hands giddily at that before sitting down on her bed. Weiss breathed in deeply as she prepared to tell whatever her feelings were to Neo.

"My father disowned me. What that means is that I am officially no longer part of the Schnee family name." Weiss said. Neo looked at her with a blank expression.

"The problem I'm facing with this is, is seeing the name I defended for so long engineer its own demise." Weiss said, sighing heavily. "And what's bothering me about that is that I tried so hard. I tried to let my father see reason. But he never listened".

Weiss felt the tears come again, she took a breather for a moment. Neo placed a comforting hand on her knee and smiled at her.

"In the end, I lose who I am. Who I always thought I was and I don't know where to go from there. I only ever knew how to be the heiress to the Schnee name.." Weiss sighed, resting her head in her hands.

Neo tapped Weiss' leg to get her attention. She shook her head at Weiss before pointing at Weiss twice. Weiss looked confused at her, before Neo pointed again at her with exaggeration.

"I'm.. me?" Weiss guessed. Neo nodded.

"But that's what I mean, without that I'm just-" Weiss began before taps on her leg interrupted her again. This time, Neo looked much more serious as she pointed at Weiss.

Neo was quite insistent on her message. Yet Weiss knew not fully what she meant. "I'll think about it.". Neo nodded at her again and smiled, before falling over on her own bed.

Weiss had not expected Neo to be so helpful. Last time they had met, they had been enemies. She wondered what Ruby had said to her. Finding her mind calmed down, Weiss returned to the data of the mission. Skimming over it, she started seeing a pattern in the attacks of the White Fang and Ravens' sightings. Taking a map of the Kingdom of Vale from her bag, she spread it out on her bed and dotted the locations from the mission. She traced the lines with her fingers to find out a possible location where they would converge.

Then it struck Weiss. All around Vale the large scale attacks had been. But dating them, she could see them spread out from one central point. The coast between Vacuo and Vale, where the purple trees grew. Victoriously, Weiss rolled up the map. She looked at Neo.

"I know where to go. I'm going to tell Yang and Blake so we can get a move on tomorrow and maybe reach it by nightfall." Weiss said, nearly singing the words. Neo simply showed her a thumbs up, indicating an 'ok' from her. Weiss quickly walked over to the room before pushing against the adjacent room's door, with a creak it opened.

"So! I found out where their base might… be…" Weiss started before her words trailed off as she saw clothes along with undergarments strewn all around the room and a startled Blake and Yang together in bed, both frozen from the shock of Weiss her sudden intrusion.

"I think I forgot to lock the door.." Yang whispered to Blake before turning to look at Weiss. "H-hey Weiss! This.. uhh.. This is totally what it looks like!".

Weiss turned around and closed the door behind her, swearing to herself to forget what she had just seen.

* * *

Ruby turned off the shower head, the last droplets of the water falling on her skin. She sighed to herself contently, the damp heat of the shower along with the amazing food she had during dinner making her feel reborn. Ruby stepped out of the shower, drying her hair with the blower and tying it into a ponytail to keep it from going all over the place. Then clothing herself in simple undergarments and a simple top, she made her way out of the shower towards the bedroom. Ruby and Jaune both decided since they were a thing now anyway, there would be no real sense in letting each have their own bed, like they had in Vale.

Jaune was idly browsing on his scroll as Ruby crawled into the bed next to him. She snuggled up against his form, making him drop his arm so she could use it as a pillow. Her eyes rested on his scroll.

"What are you searching for?" Ruby asked, placing her free hand on his chest and lovingly caressing it. She never paid much attention to it at first, but he was well-defined.

"Well, Phare said she wanted only you tomorrow. So I'm probably going into town. I was just seeing if there was maybe anything interesting." Jaune said, before closing his scroll and putting it on the nightstand.

"And, found anything?" Ruby asked, smiling up at him.

"Well, there was this bakery, but I'm guessing that's more your style." Jaune joked, using his free hand to stroke a few stray hairs of Ruby behind her ear. Ruby nuzzled against his palm, feeling completely at peace.

"Jaune.. I want to thank you for sticking with me. Not only now, but also back then." Ruby said, looking him in the eyes. "I don't know how things would've been or would be now if you hadn't.".

"Well, I certainly wouldn't be lying here with you in my arms." Jaune said, smiling back at Ruby.

Ruby sighed. There it was again. For some reason he always knew the right words to say that would make her melt. She thought about that morning, how Jaune had unlocked the powers in her. She thought about the calm she felt when his aura was within her. Her heart was overflowing with the love she felt for him. Ruby crossed the distance between their lips and placed hers on his gently, savoring the kiss.

It didn't sate the burning feeling inside of her heart. She let her free hand run through his hair, trying to pull him closer to her into the kiss as she let the passion in her lead her. Ruby felt like she never wanted to let go of him, the kiss being the only important thing to her in this world. When they both ran out of breath, they disconnected from each other, breathing heavily against each other's' lips. Ruby hadn't even noticed that she had moved a little over him. They stole small kisses from each other before looking each other in the eyes.

 _Do I want this.. Am I ready?_ Ruby thought to herself. She stared at Jaune before he smiled broadly at her. _Yes, yes I do, and yes I am._

"Jaune..?" Ruby started. Her heart felt heavy with the question she was about to ask.

"Yeah..?" Jaune replied, his hot breath hitting her lips, driving Ruby nearly into a frenzy as she felt her heart skip another beat.

"Do you want to.. You know.. Do 'it'?" Ruby asked sheepishly, a lump in her throat as she waited for his answer.

"Well, I - " Jaune started before the realization set in. His eyes grew wide and Ruby was scared for a moment that she might have ruined the moment they just had.

"W-well! Uh.. Ruby.. I don't- I mean, It's not that I don't want to, but- Well not really _but_ either.." Jaune started, stumbling over his words.

 _I think I broke him._ Ruby thought to herself. In a strange way, it only helped the love she felt for him.

"I mean I really love you- but.. This is a big step, I mean, for you! I'm totally for it.." Jaune rambled on, seemingly not able to give an answer.

"Jaune." Ruby said, attempting to calm him down and appealing to his common sense. Even after offering herself fully to him, he was still worried for her.

"I mean, how could I not be for it, I mean, you're amazing and wonderful and beautiful and.." his ramblings continued.

"Jaune." Ruby repeated again, a small smile on her lips. _I really did break him._

"And, I mean, any guy would die to have you and I mean, I would definitely but I really need to know if you're certain, because if you're not th-" Jaune talking before Ruby placed her lips on his, silencing him.

"Jaune. There is no one I love more in this world than you. You've done so much for me through all these years as a friend and now as something more. If I wasn't certain, I wouldn't have asked you." Ruby said, staring him in the eyes.

"I love you too Ruby, you're the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. But I don't want you to do this because you feel like you need to, for whatever reason." Jaune said, letting his thumb stroke her cheek.

She nuzzled into his hand. "I am really sure. I _want_ to give you everything, Jaune. I love you." Ruby said, smiling happily at him.

"I love you too Ruby and I want to give you everything as well." Jaune said.

Ruby's heart swelled as she crashed her lips against his. The fire that their kiss had held before the disconnected was reignited. Ruby let her hands glide over Jaune's chest, feeling every ridge, muscle and scar and memorizing them with her fingers. She felt his hands rub awkwardly over her middle, a slight shake in them noticeable.

Deciding to help him out, she broke the kiss for a moment and took off her top, leaving Jaune looking at her awestruck until she kissed him again. His fingers on her bare skin felt like electric now, small shocks of pleasure building up and causing Ruby to release a small moan. Instantly Jaune disconnected from the kiss.

"Are you okay? I mean, you made a sound and I do-" Jaune started before Ruby silenced him again with her lips. Her hands went to Jaune's strong shoulders, nails lightly grazing against his skin. One of his thumbs grazed the skin just below her bra and Ruby shuddered unconsciously as it gave a foreign but pleasurable feeling to her. She pushed her nails into Jaune's shoulders as he kept brushing the sensitive skin just below her breasts. Ruby was unable to suppress a moan and immediately Jaune stopped his ministrations and broke the kiss.

"Are you sure you're okay bec-" he started, looking very much uncomfortable. Ruby placed her finger on his lips to silence him.

"Jaune. I'm completely fine. All those reactions are because whatever you're doing feels really, really good. So please, keep doing what you're doing or.. I don't know, try something else. I'll let you know if I like it or not." Ruby said, smiling bashfully at him as she finished.

"O-okay." Jaune replied, gently cupping Ruby's cheek as they continued their kiss.

Ruby felt a nervous hand glide up from her side up to her still clothed breast and softly cup it. She breathed in sharply, the new sensation making her stomach flutter in excitement. Jaune repeated the soft rubbing motion, only increasing the pleasure she felt from it. It felt so foreign to her to be touched there by someone else.

Small moans left her lips as she felt the excitement build up even higher inside of her. The soft savoring kisses had switched to intimate tongue-kissing, Ruby having slid her tongue in during the kissing frenzy between them. Each pleasurable peak caused her to dig her nails into his shoulders. It wasn't long until Ruby wondered what his touch would feel like without her bra on. Determined, she used one of her hands to fumble with unhooking her bra. After a few moments she felt the pressure on her chest release and the straps fall slack on her arms. She let it fall from her arms and threw away the garment without any regard to where it would land.

Jaune's hand nervously went back to it's previous position, now feeling the bare skin of her breast instead of simple cloth. He repeated his motions before his curiosity moved him to explore her breast with his fingers. Jaune felt her shudder as his fingers moved over the small nub on her breast and decided to touch it again. Another shudder came from Ruby and she started trembling as he paid much attention to it with his fingers.

Ruby was in bliss. She had never pleasured herself because of her time at Atlas (and before, never much had the interest to do so) so every touch set her on fire. Jaune touching the sensitive bud on her moderately sized breast was fueling the fire in her heart more and more, the direct skin touch causing her to moan into the kiss and dig her nails into his shoulders even more. She was certain that she would be drawing blood soon.

Jaune's ministrations didn't stop. Ruby's reactions giving him confidence, he moved his other hand to mimic the caressing of her breasts. His own arousal was also increasing the more and more he touched her, soon growing to full length. Ruby felt him rub with the cloth against her leg and it made her nervous for only a moment. Tentatively her left hand ventured lower and lower, grazing over his abdomen until she reached the hem of his underwear. Softly she rubbed him through the cloth, hoping the sensation would be pleasurable to Jaune.

Ruby's body meanwhile had been endlessly fueling her own arousal. She could feel her nethers throb in excitement with every touch Jaune made. Feeling bold and unable to take the throbbing any longer, she took one of his hands off of her breast and sheepishly lead it to her nethers. Jaune gently rubbed the cloth separating his hand and Ruby's sex causing Ruby to become nearly dizzy at the feeling.

Ruby felt a pressure build up inside of her as he rubbed her through the cloth with a large shock of pleasure making her body shudder each time he touched the sensitive nub atop her sex.

Jaune's initial nervousness had waned and it wasn't long until he attempted to help Ruby out of her panties. He wanted to see every part of the girl he loved and make her tremble and shudder in her arms as she did now, moaning sweetly into their kiss as when he touched a particularly sensitive part. Ruby helped him take it off, and motioned for him to do the same with his boxer.

As they were both naked, they broke the kiss and stared at each other, each breathing in air deep as they both had been kissing for so long that they both had forgotten to breathe in. Ruby leaned back a little as her hand ventured down lower again and grasped him, eliciting a slight gasp from Jaune. Gently she rubbed him with her fingers, unsure of what she was doing was even pleasurable to him.

"Does.. does that feel good?" Ruby asked bashfully. Jaune nodded as he let out small moans. Ruby leaned in to kiss him again as her fingers moved to rub the top, causing Jaune to thrust into her hand. Liking the reaction she got, she repeated it before slowly moving the skin up and down, exposing his crown. Ruby slipped her tongue into the kiss again, moving her hand up and down in a steady movement, paying extra attention to the top of it. When she felt her hand become wet with his juices she broke the kiss again to straddle him fully.

"Ruby.. are you sure you want to do this.. ?' Jaune asked one final time.

"Yes." Ruby said before sitting up a slight bit more. Jaune held her up carefully by her thighs as she positioned him at her nethers. She took a deep breath and gently lowered herself. She could feel him spread her and a blinding pain shot through her. Ruby hissed from the pain, closing her eyes to focus on what she was doing. Slowly, her aura helped her deal with the pain as she took more and more of Jaune in. Once he was completely in, Jaune let go of her thighs.

Ruby felt strange. She felt amazing and so full, but it was still quite painful, this ofcourse being her first time. Slowly she moved up again, the pain very slowly fading. Jaune was trying to help her, but fumbling around with hands instead as she took deep breaths to deal with the pain. It didn't take long for Ruby to grab his hands and place them on her hips.

"Just hold me here.. It hurts now but, it's starting to feel better." Ruby said through gasps of pain.

"O-okay." Jaune said, holding her gentle as he could.

The pain ebbed away and Ruby increased her pace of moving up and down. The familiar spark she had felt when Jaune had touched her breasts and her nethers returned, but now deep within her core she could feel it. The pleasureful pressure in her stomach started again as she increased speed. He reached deep within her, making her see stars every time she took him in too deep, but it didn't hurt.

"Oh gods.." Ruby moaned as she leaned over Jaune, her hips moving in a steadily increasing pace. She crashed her lips against his in a frenzied kiss, the pleasure overtaking her rational thought as Jaune too started thrusting lightly into her, making sure he wasn't doing it too hard so he didn't hurt her.

Bliss filled Ruby's mind. Her body was still on fire but she could feel it build up. The pressure on her core only increased more and more with each time she moved and each time Jaune thrusted. She felt like she would go insane if this continued for too long. Unfortunately, her legs became sore from the repetitive movement.

"C-can we switch?" Ruby asked as she quickly broke the kiss. Jaune nodded at her and slowed his thrusts so she could change. Ruby got off of Jaune and laid on her back, propping her head up with several pillows.

"Y-you ready?" Jaune breathed, out of breath from the pleasure he too was experiencing. Ruby nodded and Jaune got between her legs and positioned himself at her nethers. Slowly he pushed in, making Ruby moan loudly to her own surprise as well as she put her hand over her mouth. Jaune laughed a little as he kissed her and went deeper, starting a slow rhythm of thrusting into her.

Ruby felt like she was losing her mind. He was reaching even deeper within her and the feeling in her stomach only kept building and building. As Jaune increased his pace, she came undone. She moaned into the kiss as her vision went white from the mind blowing pleasure she felt. Ruby shuddered violently as Jaune kept thrusting, prolonging her orgasm. Ruby was scared for a moment she would pass out, but it wasn't soon after that the feeling ebbed away.

She was in absolute bliss now, every small touch no longer causing the pressure in her stomach to increase, but feeling extremely good still. Her hands went to Jaune's neck as she kissed him more tenderly instead of the frenzied passion she had used before.

Jaune's pace still increased, finding himself closer and closer to his own release. Ruby looked at him lovingly as they disconnected from the kiss. Jaune buried his face in her neck, kissing her there as Ruby let out beautiful moans each time he hilted in her.

"I'm.. getting.. close.." Jaune whispered in her ear in quick pants as he looked up at her.

"It's okay, I have medicine." Ruby panted, and crossed her legs behind his. The look in her eyes showed the love she had for him and it made him come undone as he thrusted again. He thrusted irregularly and moaned loudly as he came, spilling deep inside Ruby.

Ruby felt his warmth enter her, gasping a little at the sensation. It was a strange feeling to be sure, the fullness she had felt before even more enhanced now as his release kept on in steady spurts. Luckily because of her medicine, which she mostly took to regulate her period, she didn't have to worry about getting pregnant.

After Jaune was done, he pulled himself out of her and laid down next to her. They both took a second to breathe before kissing each other tenderly. This was not a kiss because of passion or need. For Ruby and Jaune, it was one of pure love and devotion for each other. Ruby broke the kiss and put her forehead against his.

"I love you Jaune.." she breathed, a smile on her face as she looked into his eyes and stole kisses from him, the tiredness setting in.

"I love you too Ruby." Jaune said, kissing her again tenderly. He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned on his chest and closed her eyes. Jaune smiled at her as she dozed off, her form slowly rising and falling on his chest.

It wasn't long until Jaune too fell asleep.

* * *

 **Alright, I'm usually not one for an additional Author's Note after the final words have been written, but I just wanted you guys to know that this is the first lemon I've ever written. So if I fucked up, my bad and if I write another one I'll try to fix it.**


	18. Chapter 18: Realization

**Sorry for the long wait. I'm glad so many people liked the Lemon. It was interesting to write and I was a bit hesitant at first, but there's been some great support for it. I would like to however add that it's not going to be the only M-worthy scene in the story. What that means I'll let you guys figure out for yourselves. Also, thanks for the Reviews, Favorites and Follows. It's still a bit strange to me that people really got into this story. Thank you. A lot. I mean it.**

 **I've also written the first chapter for a new story called 'Taming the Demon Inside'. Those following me as an author might've seen it, but it's a story dealing with the World of Warcraft : Legion Beta lore for Demon Hunters. So if you're interested in what I can do with a different story subject, please give it a read. I'm also experimenting with the 'I' story structure which is a challenge to put it lightly.**

 **There is something else in the works which I'm sure most of you will really, really like, but I'm not going to go into details on that yet. One hint; It'll be a RWBY Crossover story. That's all I'll tell you.**

 **Anyway, enough nonsense. I present: Chapter 18: Realization.**

* * *

Chapter 18: Realization

When Ruby woke up, she couldn't help herself from staying in bed just a little longer. The warmth of the bed itself combined with Jaune's beckoned her too much to stay. She knew she'd have to get up sooner or later, but right now, she wanted to stay in the bliss.

Ruby thought back to the night before. It made her stomach flutter as she thought of it. It had been weird, it had been a little awkward. But it had been great _, amazing_ even. Softly she let her fingers caress Jaune's chest as she looked at in him in complete adoration. Ruby felt a little childish as a possessive thought rolled around in her head. _He's mine, and i'm his._ She thought, only widening the smile on her face.

Ruby laid there for a couple more minutes until she grabbed her scroll to look at the time. Noticing she didn't have much time to lay around anymore, Ruby decided she'd get up and take a shower. Tiptoeing as best she could so she didn't wake Jaune up, she made her way over to the shower and turned it on immediately. As the water started flowing, she thought about the power inside her.

She placed her hand over her heart. Closing her eyes, Ruby could feel the other, now much less foreign, Aura inside her. It was so strange to her. All this time, she had been much more powerful than she had known, but could never quite grasp it. Fighting Cinder, she had first felt it. A burning sensation in herself as, what Ruby presumed was her power, had flowed through her at that time. It also helped her defeat Cinder in the end. But that was all unconscious.

Now, she could start to control it. To harness it to do even greater good. To maybe end the war against whoever it was and create a world where people could coexist peacefully.

Ruby stepped into the shower. She'd talk her thoughts over with Phare at training.

* * *

Weiss felt absolutely exhausted after they had finally arrived at their destination. Opting to drive this time, she wanted to make as much distance as they could before they would need to stop for sleep and refueling. If things would continue like this, they would only need another day to get to the coast and start their search properly.

Slamming the back of the truck shut and making sure the truck itself was fully refueled for the next day, she took a moment to look around. The village wasn't much. Yang presumed it had been a logging village prior to the Grimm going rampant, as the clearing they were in was set in the middle of a forest and there a few logging trucks around, however they seemed to be in awful state of disrepair. A small bench outside the hotel they would stay at seemed perfect for Weiss to just take a breather.

While Weiss did feel exhausted, she didn't feel like sleeping. Her talk with Neo had helped with getting her thoughts settled, but still the loneliness didn't quite fade and lying in bed at night certainly didn't help. In all honesty, she missed the partnership she used to have with Ruby. She remember how at first she was distrustful of the hyperactive girl, but learned to trust her over time and see Ruby for the leader she could be, and how Ruby could in turn help her work through her problems. She pulled out her scroll and unlocked it. _Maybe I should just call her. Or text her. Let her know what's up._ Weiss thought to herself.

"Hey." a voice broke through the silence of Weiss' thoughts, startling her.

"W-wha?" Weiss said, before looking up and seeing Blake. She had a small smile on her lips, undoubtedly because of Weiss' reaction. "Oh, hey Blake."

"You okay there? You were pretty far lost in thought." Blake said. "Mind if I sit?"

Weiss scooted over a bit so Blake could sit next to her. "I've just been trying to keep my mind of things. The night before we left, when.. I uhh. Saw you two, I had a good .. talk.. with Neo." Weiss said, trying to make herself sound confident, but remembering how she had found Yang and Blake in bed was still a bit embarrassing.

"Yeah.. Sorry for that. We've been trying to keep it under the covers.." Blake said. Weiss looked up at her unamused.

"Pun not intended. Yang's rubbing off on me I think." Blake laughed. "But I presume you talked with her about, well.."

"The fact that my father disowned me? Yeah.." Weiss replied softly. "I feel like I've lost who I am, like I have no purpose anymore. But Neo tried to tell me I was myself all along, but I still doubt her 'words'."

"Weiss.. What happened that he actually did disown you..?" Blake asked, the concern in her voice comforting to Weiss.

"I.. left. More specifically, I left after he had promised me changes that never happened. Threw the blazer with the family's symbol I had worn for so long on his desk and put on the only clothes I have that didn't have any Schnee resemblance. Then left to find you guys." Weiss said, laughing as she finished. "Coincidentally well timed that it all worked out."

"How long has it been since then?" Blake asked.

"About five weeks.." Weiss sighed, placing her head in her hands. "I never expected him to actually _do it_ , you know."

"What were the changes? Sorry if I'm prying, but you haven't really said anything about why you left except that you did." Blake said.

Weiss looked at Blake for a brief moment before sighing deeply. "I left because I tried to help the Faunus working for the Schnee Dust Company. I argued with my father endlessly about it in the past few years and it seemed he listened. Then I got some reports and it ended up with him having lied to me all that time. Nothing had changed. Faunus were still treated as slaves and still died due to the working conditions."

".. You tried to help the Faunus?" Blake said, surprised.

"Blake, all my life I had been told the Faunus were no more than beasts and it didn't help when the White Fang destroyed many Schnee shipments." Weiss started. "But after working with you, Velvet, Sun. With all the people who were Faunus it showed me there is no difference except for some animal attributes. They're people. I believed in that, and it's my duty as a Huntress to protect the people. I tried to make my father see it, but he's too set in his ways. All he wanted for me was to be silent and nod my head."

Blake blinked at her a couple of times. Then softly she embraced Weiss, much to Weiss' surprise.

"Thank you." Blake said before letting go of the embrace with a large smile on her face.

".. For what? I haven't really done anything." Weiss replied, confusion apparent.

"You stuck up for the Faunus, Weiss. You did what you believed in." Blake said, "I want to say I know what you've gone through, although we both know that isn't true. When I joined the White Fang and I truly believed in them. I was always shown the mistreatment of Faunus and I left them in the end because I thought that violence was not the way, severing all the ties that were important to me, like Adam. It wasn't until I got into our team that I understood that fully and learned to trust humanity again."

"So.. What you're saying is ..?" Weiss asked. She didn't quite understand what Blake was implying.

"What I'm saying is, is that we both have grown and become ourselves. Weiss, the Schnee name is not your identity. You have ideals and beliefs that you, yourself, value." Blake said, "Your father may have disowned you Weiss, but he has taken nothing from you except money. You are still who you are, and everyone will still treat you the same when they know you, Schnee heritage or not."

Weiss looked at Blake and put her a finger to her lips as she thought. Weiss could certainly say Blake was right, but Weiss also knew that her mind would plague her nonetheless, even after hearing this truth. But it did help. Maybe this was what Neo had meant to say.

"I know this is going to be hard. But know that all of us are here for you. If you ever need to talk.." Blake said and put a hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"Yes, I know. Thanks Blake.. That actually helped a lot." Weiss said and smiled at her, Blake returning her hand to her side.

A silent moment passed between them. Weiss interrupted it with a small cough. "So. You and Yang.. How did that happen..?" she asked.

Blake chuckled. "A long time ago. She had been the first one to show me true kindness for being what I am, a Faunus. I guess that just connected us. After Beacon.. I ran. Because I was afraid of what would happen if Adam were to get close to her again." she said. "I told myself it had been my fault that Yang got hurt. Selfish, I know, but Adam terrified me and I knew exactly how strong he was. None of us would be able to stand up to him. Not even together."

"That kind of explains Yang's reaction in the forest." Weiss said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah. I guess. After the mission, we buried Adam in Forever Fall." Blake said, sighing heavily. "It has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Even though I feared him and eventually killed him, I have loved him."

Weiss kept silent as she listened.

"But then after we got back, something between me and Yang had changed." Blake said and smiled. "I explained her everything about why and such. We cried a bunch together. In the end, we realized, we both had just been afraid of whatever we were. How deep our relationship really went."

"I guess, one thing just lead to another. And now I'm dating Yang." Blake sighed as she fiddled around with her fingers.

".. So why did you guys try to keep it hidden..?" Weiss asked.

"Because I was still unsure. It's hard for me to deal with affection and such. I don't deal well with emotions because I've always repressed everything while I was in the White Fang. Yang respected that and tried to help me with that even when we were still students. So we usually just took time off together and spent it that way." Blake replied. "Last night.. Was a bit different. Since we started preparing for the mission, it had been a while since we spent time together. It just happened in the frenzy of the moment, I guess."

"Not.. what I was asking about.. But, you know. Whatever." Weiss said, trying to mask the embarrassment in her voice.

"I get it. Sorry." Blake said apologetically.

"Thanks though. I think.. I think I've just been too stuck on what's on the surface. It's good to be around all of you again. While we've become older and wiser, the trust and support I get from you guys helps, a lot." Weiss said.

"Don't mention it. We're a team. Although we have Jaune in the mix because of Ruby, that's not a bad thing. She still pays much, much attention to all of us, even though we're only still a team in spirit." Blake said amusedly. "I'm going to get some sleep. Yang's going to be driving tomorrow, so I doubt I'll get much sleep on the way."

"Sleep tight." Weiss said and smiled at Blake as she went inside the hotel.

Weiss looked at her scroll again when Blake left, Ruby's contact still up. Smiling to herself, Weiss closed her scroll. Blake had been right. This whole thing with her being disowned wouldn't make her lose who she was.

It'd make her who she really is.

* * *

Meditation was not Ruby's strong suit. Sitting still in general. But, in order to control her powers, she would need to first get control of herself. And patience would be a part of that. It had been something that had been quite hard for her to 'learn', or more specifically, mimic when she was training at Atlas. Breathing in deep, she searched herself for her power and tried to tap from it slowly, carefully.

It didn't take long for a small sound to interrupt Ruby's concentration, leaving the feeling altogether gone and the focus moot. Groaning, Ruby drooped her body forward.

"It's not working.." Ruby muttered.

"Then you try again." Phare said calmly.

"But it's not working. I can find it in myself, but it's like I'm too restless to really 'grasp' it like you're telling me to. To control it." Ruby replied.

"Then what might cause your inner restlessness?" Phare asked calmly again.

"I don't know." Ruby sighed. "Usually when I was very emotional I could unleash it all. When I fought Cinder for example. At that moment, I felt it naturally. I didn't even know I _had_ it."

"Hm. Then what bothers you, personally that is?" Phare said, her tone neutral.

Ruby looked pensive at her. There were a few things unresolved, she knew. While she felt great in general, she hadn't dealt with Qrow being her father yet. Nevermind that he had lied to her all her life. And that's she blamed him for her mother's de-

A blinding pain shot through Ruby's head and whiteness filled her mind as she gasped audibly from it. She fell onto her arms and held herself up as she grit her teeth to try and diminish the pain. It felt like she was being electrified from the inside, her arms shuddering with energy flowing through them.

"Ruby!" Phare's voice yelled out in the distance. "Ruby, hold on! Try to get control!"

Through her blurry vision, she could see Phare at a distance, but she couldn't reach Ruby. Swirling storms of white surrounded her, soft white rose petals mixed with the red petals of her own fell down around her. It only felt worse the more she tried to gain control, to find out what was happening inside her, each grasp at the power inside of her causing her to lose even more control over the energy.

Ruby's head snapped upwards and she gasped again until she felt a hand press softly against her cheek. Through the blur, she could see the white cloak and the silver eyes. The hand felt warm, tender. _Safe_. It reminded her of home.

"Mom..?" Ruby breathed, her mind thumping heavily from the pain.

Ruby could see a smile on the lips of the figure, before it faded into the white petals and disappeared.

The whiteness in her mind subsided as the swirling aura died down. Exhausted, Ruby fell onto the ground, panting heavily as she regained control over her body and mind.

"Ruby.. what happened..?" Phare asked, concerned as she held her up a little.

"I saw.. I saw my mother.." Ruby said, her voice hoarse and tears springing to her eyes.

* * *

An: oops. I didn't check the line breaks. My bad.


	19. Chapter 19: Letting Go

**So, A bit later updated than I intended. I'm sorry. Things have been hectic with my girlfriend being back home and even though I've got vacation, things keep me busy. SO HOW ABOUT THAT POKEMON GO. Yeah. No. Not going to go into that.**

 **I really, really appreciate all the support you guys are giving me still with Views, Follows and Favorites. I read every review and while I don't always answer to the reviews themselves, if you ever have like a important point, or question you want to ask me, feel free to pm me. I really love interacting with my readers.**

 **Also, Check out Descendants of Remnant, a story I'm collabing on with an amazing writer called Alsodef. Just click on my profile to find it, It's an Assassin's Creed x Rwby crossover.**

 **Anyways, here is Chapter 19: Letting Go**

* * *

Chapter 19: Letting Go

* * *

It took a minute for Ruby to calm down again.

 _Mom._ She thought to herself. _All this time you've still been with me._

Phare walked up to her and handed her a small bottle of water, which Ruby gratefully accepted. A large sip helped her heart settle and Phare sat down in front of her.

"Let's talk. You said you saw your mother..?" Phare asked.

Ruby nodded.

"Did you see her inside of yourself, or did she manifest from your aura?" Phare said.

"I don't know." Ruby sighed. "I just.. I felt like I was going to explode. There was so much energy. And then _she_ was there."

"What did you think of that would trigger it?" Phare asked.

"I .. I thought about her death.. How I blamed my un- I mean, 'father' for it." Ruby said.

" 'Father'? " Phare inquired, raising an eyebrow at Ruby's correction.

"It's.. complicated. I found out that my uncle is actually my father." Ruby sighed, taking a sip from the water bottle.

"And why did you blame him for it?"

"Because! .. He left my mother alone when she needed him most! He should've been there when she..! .. When she.." Ruby bursted out before trailing her words off.

"When your mother died…?" Phare asked and put a gentle hand on Ruby's knee.

Ruby swallowed the lump that was in her throat. "Yes."

"Does he feel regret for that?"

"Yes." Ruby said. She remembered the conversation she had with Qrow. The look on his face as he confessed that she was his daughter. The confession of him not coming on that mission along with the anger and sadness when he told her about it. Ruby realized she never had given him a chance.

"But still you blame him?"

Ruby kept silent for a moment as she looked up into the emerald eyes of Phare.

"Ruby?"

"No.. I just.. All this time, I've clung to the memory of my mother. I even use her last name still, and I'm wearing the cape she wore as a memory to her. But now, it's different. I'm not clinging to it anymore. But it just felt _wrong._ It felt wrong that in her final moments, my mother was alone. It's _wrong_ that she died trying to do what's right and in the end it might've meant nothing. And that's the problem I feel." Ruby sighed, downing the last of her water.

"Whatever we do in this world, there is still too much injustice. And I just wish I was strong enough to help everyone I can. But I'm not and I know. I'm only one person and I realize that. The world isn't a fairytale." Ruby continued. "But that doesn't mean that I will ever stop trying. I just wish everyone would just look at the bigger picture and try to make a better world together."

"Well said." Phare said and smiled at her. "However, Ruby, it is important that you understand that in order to control the energy, you need to be able to work through the problems you have. It is part of being in balance."

"But I have. I made peace with the fact that I am his daughter. I made peace with the fact that my mother died. But it doesn't mean I like what happened." Ruby said, frustrated.

Phare smiled at her, though her eyes shone with a certain sadness. "Come. I must show you something."

* * *

After another long drive, Weiss, Blake, Yang and Neo decided it would be best to stop one final time. They found a village where most of the houses were abandoned but still in okay condition. It probably had been a touristic destination at some point, but they were closer to Vacuo now than to Vale, and Vacuo's lockdown probably had something to do with the state of the town now.

The morning air was calming to Yang as she did her training. She went through the motions she had done ever since she had coped with losing her arm. It had become a thing she had done out of sheer determination, to not let the loss of her arm be a detriment to what she wanted from life.

Losing Blake had been… difficult for her. The memories of her 'betrayal' flooded back to Yang, but she quickly shook them off. She had spoken with Blake and things had ended up much for the better because the both of them realized there is more to this world than just the petty grudges and prejudices they held.

Yang remembered the burial of Adam in Forever Fall. It was the first time she had seen Blake actually show her true self, without trying to apply a mask or hide who she was. In Beacon, Yang had tried endlessly to get Blake to talk to her. Slowly, she got Blake to trust her and speak to her and Yang knew there was much troubling her.

Ten years later, not much had changed in that regard. Yang and Blake were in a relationship now, but Blake still hid many secrets and a lot of pain. For some reason Yang thought back to what happened at the tournament, when she had to fight against Mercury and _something_ had made her see Mercury attack her. Her heart stung at the thought, knowing that that day Blake hadn't supported her and Yang doubled her efforts in the training.

Then Yang remembered the train. How she had fought Neo and Neo had beat her without even a sweat. _Neo._ The girl bothered her. Yang knew she could be trusted based on what Ruby had done (even though she had heard of that from Blake and Weiss, but still, Ruby wasn't one to trust people blindingly after all these years) yet there was this nagging feeling that it was unnatural for them to be on the same side, after everything Neo had done.

Suddenly Yang felt a chill up her spine as she turned around and saw Neo standing there, a cocky smirk on her lips as she leaned against the wooden wall of the house where Yang had been training outside of. Yang simply gave her a glare.

"What do you want?" she demanded roughly of Neo, whom only crossed her arms and shrugged at Yang. Frustrated, Yang sighed and continued her training, trying to channel her annoyance into fervor for her training.

But still she caught a glimpse of her everytime she turned around. The same cocky look, the same cocky stance. Yang felt herself starting to get angry, but decided it wasn't worth it to show that Neo got under her skin a little. Finishing up her morning routine of training, Yang stretched a final time before making her way back to the house, but Neo stepped in front of her.

".. Again, What do you want?" Yang asked. Neo held up her hands in a boxing pose (that Yang often took) and mimicked a few punches at her before flashing her a smile.

"You want to fight me?" Yang asked confused. Neo tilted her head at Yang before she gave a hesitant nod with a small 'so so' gesture.

"Oh. A spar." Yang said, to which Neo nodded without any kind of gesture. "Well, that's fine by me, I guess."

Yang walked back to the spot where she was training and held up her fists. She made sure the gauntlet was in its safety lock so she wouldn't accidentally shoot at Neo. Neo put her umbrella to the wall of the house and shed her blazer before taking up a similar stance to Yang. Yang towered over Neo, who was still quite small, but Yang knew that Neo was agile, so she would have to prepare for that.

"Alright, normal fighting rules. We don't have to kill each other fighting." Yang said, peering over her fists at Neo, who pouted for a small moment but returned then with a great grin.

"Okay then, let's dance." Yang said and quickly jabbed at Neo.

Neo kept her grin as she easily dodged out of Yang's way and struck Yang in the stomach, turning from her then to keep a little distance between them. Yang steeled herself from the hit but had never realized just how insanely quick Neo was, and experienced at hand to hand. But Yang had been training for years and had been an instructor for many more. She had been able to challenge her father using only one arm. Surely Yang would be able to outsmart the girl in a spar like this.

Yang started her offense, making quick jabs at Neo. Neo deftly dodged most of them, some hitting her lightly but not causing any real damage or effect. When Yang overcommitted into a jab, Neo crossed and struck Yang in the face.

Yang was disoriented for a moment. She didn't expect Neo to actually be able to counter her attack. Quickly Yang recovered and blocked two jabs from Neo, and tried to hit her with a cross.

Again Neo was too fast for her , a swift uppercut from her making Yang again see stars. Slowly, the ember inside of Yang was fueled by each counter or offense that Neo made that Yang hadn't predicted. It wasn't that Neo did much damage, Yang's aura easily able to take the hits. But it was the fact that Yang still wasn't able to beat her after overcoming so much.

Yang lashed out with a haymaker, landing it right on Neo's face. She smirked to herself as she felt it connect, but Yang felt the resistance under her fist give way as the illusion shattered, the fake-glass falling around her. Alone she stood in the center, holding her fists up in a defensive motion. Yang grit her teeth and felt the flames of her semblance surge.

A flash of light caught her eye and Yang immediately braced for the impact she expected. She blinked once, before seeing Neo stand in front of her smirking smugly. Enhanced by her anger, she started an onslaught on her. But Neo repeated nearly the same moves she had on the train. Deftly she dodged every hit Yang tried to hit her with. Rage boiled over and Yang unlocked the safety on her gauntlet. Yang's gauntlet fired as she punched, intending to finally hit Neo with _something_.

Instead, Neo aimed Yang's arm upward, making the explosive dust projectile fly off it's intended course, instead flying off into the woods where a heavy explosion sounded it's impact. Before Yang knew what had happened, Neo had grabbed her hand and used it as leverage to swing acrobatically around her back before throwing her down with her feet and landing on Yang's chest, holding both of Yang's arms down with her knees and hands as they fell over with a heavy thud.

Yang's semblance flared up even fiercer, making Neo wince but power through. She no longer wore the smug grin, but was gritting her teeth while keeping Yang down.

"Let go of me you little fuckin-!" Yang yelled, her eyes deep crimson, reflecting the anger inside her. Neo tried her hardest to keep her down, but her energy was already lessened from the spar itself.

"Get off of me you lunatic!" Yang yelled again, managing to get one of her hands loose before Neo again sat on it. She looked at Yang and shaked her head fervently.

"What in the gods' name do you want from me?!" Yang yelled again, trying to push Neo over. For a brief moment Yang's hands were freed before Neo pushed them down again, looming over her.

"So that's it? You're just trying to humiliate me again?" Yang yelled, her anger still raging on.

Neo shaked her head again. Neo was certain if Yang didn't calm down, her hands would burn from the heat of Yang's anger.

"Then let me go, damnit!" Yang yelled again, but Neo was done with it. Neo lifted Yang's hands up for a brief moment before pushing even harder against her. The action had the desired result, Yang looked at her through her anger for only a brief moment.

Yang was surprised by what she saw in Neo's eyes. It wasn't anger. It wasn't malice. It wasn't smugness. It was determination and .. caring?

Immediately Neo felt the heat simmer down and sighed in relief. Slowly, Yang's struggles stopped and after a few moments Neo let go of her hands and stood up, holding out a hand for Yang to help her stand up.

Yang blinked a few times as she looked at Neo and her hand. Hesitantly, Yang took it and stood up. Yang noticed Neo wince as she took the hand and opened her hand to see. Neo's hand was severely reddened and felt warm to the touch. Yang's fingers traced the surface burns and she looked at Neo.

"I'm sorry.." Yang whispered. Her heart was heavy with the fact that she had let her anger consume her and hurt someone, finally seeing the full effects of what her semblance inflicted.

Neo smiled at her and waved in the air, as if to gesture 'don't worry.'. She placed a hand on Yang's shoulder and nodded at her, before turning and picking up her umbrella and blazer and walking back. Neo tapped quickly on a device she pulled out from the pocket of her blazer. An interesting display, as she did so with the tip of her tongue poking out from the corner of her mouth. Satisfied, Neo showed the device to Yang.

' _Anger and hatred makes you weak. Don't rely on it. Learn to let go of it and find strength in those who you care about. Don't make the mistake I did and let your anger and hatred consume you. K? :3 '_ the message Neo had typed read.

Yang looked confused at Neo, who only returned her expression with a beaming smile.

"Okay. I guess." Yang said. Neo flashed her a thumbs up and turned away from Yang again, back towards the path to the street.

Yang looked at her hands. Neo was right. She had lived on all the anger and hatred she had and fooled herself into thinking it was fuel for her determination. But now, there was no more reason to let it continue to fuel her to move on. Her family. Her friends. Blake. Those were the ones she could find strength in to protect. Yang found herself being wrong about Neo and smiled to herself. In time, Yang thought to herself, she could call Neo a friend. For now, Yang could certainly call her an ally.

* * *

"I'm sorry Phare, but where are we going..?" Ruby asked, following Phare through the large house.

"Don't be so impatient. I promise you, it will help you understand what I mean." Phare replied before turning a final corner and walking up to a door. She let her hand rest on the doorknob, but didn't open it just yet. Phare closed her eyes and took a deep breath before entering the room of her deceased daughter.

Ruby followed Phare into the room. It was spotless, not a single speck of dust to be found. But still it looked like it hadn't been lived in in years. It was obviously a bedroom, belonging to..

 _Oh gods_.

"This was Pyrrha's room." Phare said, her voice heavy.

Ruby turned towards Phare immediately and looked at the sad mother with a heavy heart.

"Phare.. I understand this must be really hard.. I.. this.. We don't have to.." Ruby said, her brow furrowed in concern for her teacher.

Phare simply held up her hand and smiled, although it wasn't meant to be happy. "Ruby, I appreciate the concern. But this is important. More so for you than for me. So please, let me finish.".

Ruby looked over the room, taking in more of the detail now. Above the bed there was a display case. It was a mahogany and inside the remnants of Pyrrha's weapon, Miló and Akoúo̱, was displayed.

"Pyrrha and I have never had the best of a relationship. As a mother, I always pushed her to be the best that she could be. I fully expected her to join Haven Academy when she was finished at Sanctum. But, she decided otherwise." Phare started and sat on the bed.

"I fought her a lot during that time. In the end, she decided to go to Beacon, to forge her own path." Phare said. "I felt she mainly did that because she resented me and wanted to get away from this place - from me."

Ruby pursed her lips and wrapped her arms around herself. The sensation of standing here, in the untouched room of a friend that had died so long ago, it was too surreal. It felt as if she was trespassing.

"I have always regretted not telling her how much I loved her and how proud I was of her. I might have not agreed with her choice, but she was- no, is still my daughter."

Ruby pulled the chair from the desk carefully to sit across of Phare.

"When you four brought me the news.. I was devastated. Even though she died trying to protect the people, it felt unfair. At seventeen, she had yet to see life at it's fullest. To see all her dreams realized. I felt this way for a long time, Ruby." Phare said and looked at Ruby. Ruby's hands dropped slowly and grabbed Phare's.

"I realized that the reality of our world, of Remnant, is unfair. But we, as humanity can't simply sit still. We tend to be the masters of our own fate, and it's up to us to keep moving forward." Phare said.

"What I'm telling you, Ruby, is to let go. Let go of that resentment, that injustice you feel from the past." Phare said.

"But I have! I have accepted the fact that my mother is no longer here, I accepted the fact that my uncle is my father, I have acc-" Ruby started before being cut off by Phare.

"Acceptance is not letting go. It's agreeing with the way the world has done things. Letting go is higher than that. The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward." Phare said.

"But how.. How can I forgive myself for what happened to my mother? How can I forgive what even happened to her? How can I realize that the situation is over when it still happens? That people are still dying because of the attacks by the Grimm?" Ruby said.

"By becoming the change you want to see in the world. By forgiving yourself for not having any control over all that. Only then, can you truly move forward, and become that which the world needs." Phare said.


	20. Chapter 20: Lost and Found

**Woo. A bit of a larger chapter this time! Still took me a while but we're getting back into the plot! Yay. Or nay. Depending on which way you personally swing.**

 **Again a major shoutout to Alsodef for helping me out with writing as a beta-reader and collabing with me on Descendants of Remnant, which is our Assassin's Creed / RWBY Fic. I REALLY Suggest checking it out because that is going to be an insane story which, if you like this one, you will surely like. Seriously. Go check it out. Please?**

 **Aside from that, thank you all for reading the story. I recently broke 30k views on this story which is very humbling. It's awesome to see the reviews, favorites and follows pour in every time. I never expected to even get close to that number in the first place so all I can say is thanks. I really owe it to you guys.**

 **But I won't go on any longer. I hope you enjoy Chapter 20: Lost and Found.**

Chapter 20: Lost and Found

* * *

With Phare's words fresh in her mind, Ruby returned to 'their' cottage. On the porch she found Jaune in deep meditation, only in a hoody and a pair of sweatpants. Silently she sat down next to him, smiling half-heartedly. Ruby liked seeing him like this. At first because it would make him look less nervous, way back when they started their training at Atlas. Then later because it would make him look completely calm, something Ruby always had a problem with figuring out herself, but she could find some calm in his face herself.

Ruby sighed softly to herself, the smile growing a little larger as she kept on staring.

"Eh. Ruby, are you.. Done staring?" Jaune said, peeking at her from the corner of his eyes.

Ruby was startled at first, but recovered quickly. "Just a few seconds more. Aaaand… perfect." she said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"So how was training?" Jaune asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

Ruby sighed.

"That bad?" Jaune joked, smiling down at her.

Ruby's fingers went to the cloak, idly playing with it. "It wasn't bad. But, _something_ happened. It was like my mother was right in front of me for a moment, just like I remembered her."

"Wait, your mom in front of you?" Jaune said.

"Well, I don't really know. It looked just exactly like how I remembered her. Then she faded in white petals. I just know that whatever it was, it felt like I was being overwhelmed by power." Ruby said. "I don't know if I'm able to control it Jaune. All this power inside of me. It scares me.".

Jaune sighed and smiled down at her, he rubbed her shoulder to comfort her. "Ruby. If there is one thing I know, it's that you don't let anyone or anything stop you. It's who you are. Even when you were all alone without your team, you didn't hesitate to come with Ren, Nora and me to Mistral. In fact, the minute you were deemed okay again by the doctor's, you left."

Ruby looked up at him questioningly.

"Then, you get the opportunity presented to you after we've gone through that hellish ordeal to become a huntress again, in a strange academy, in a strange continent. But you took it. Not because you had nothing else to do like I did, no. Because you saw an opportunity to become what you wanted, to follow your dream."

Ruby looked down at her fingers twiddling with the cloak.

"But I still remember what you told me, Ruby. Why you wanted to become a Huntress. It's the same reason I did. It's the same dream I still share with you. To protect those we care about."

Ruby looked back up at him, her eyes having watered because of Jaune's words. He looked back at her and gave her a beaming smile.

"What is your power, but another thing you need to master to follow your dream? Everything we do now we do because we follow our dreams, Ruby. And if there's one thing I know, it's that you have the determination and will to master your power and get even closer to achieving that dream. That we're able to protect those we care about, with giving all we can." Jaune finished.

Ruby pondered over his words. She swallowed the tears as she realized more and more that Jaune was right. She had never said no to a challenge and faced it head on and it had become her path. Her past hadn't mattered in that. Ruby had thought to leave it all behind when she went to Atlas, but coming back to Vale.. It had made her realize that leaving it behind wasn't the way. It was through embracing and working through the problems, like she had always done, that Ruby could fulfill her dream.

"Thanks Jaune. I.. I was just really struggling with myself." Ruby said, smiling up at him.

"No worries. Now, let's go into town and grab something to eat. I'm starving and I've found a couple of places you'd like." Jaune said and stood up.

* * *

The last drive towards the area where Raven would likely be had started calmly, but had quickly devolved into absolute chaos after they had driven further and further away from civilization. Grimm had found them and it didn't take long for the car to crash into a ditch.

Weiss turned the revolving chamber of Myrtenaster and struck, the dust activating to create an icy wall to keep out the Grimm momentarily.

"Where did all of those Grimm suddenly come from?!" Weiss shouted at Neo.

Neo's now-pink eyes were wide in confusion, she shrugged quickly before a Beowolf swiped at her. With her umbrella she quickly hooked it's paw in and twisted around to give the monster a painful kick to the side of the jaw, breaking it and some of the bone markings the Grimm had.

Yang was being the juggernaut she always was, fighting multiple Grimm at once. She still used her semblance freely, every hit the Grimm landed on her only serving to power Yang up even more. But instead of letting the fire of her anger consume her and fight on reaction, she was actively thinking while fighting. Each punch landed where it was supposed to, each shot doing the same. It didn't take long for Yang to stand in a large pile of corpses of 'weaker' Grimm.

Blake had used Gambol Shroud to get up in a tree and survey the area. There were a lot of Grimm by what she could see. Hordes of them. _Damnit_. Blake thought to herself as she made her way down the tree again.

"There's too much of them. There's also Deathstalkers and King Taijitu's coming in. We _need_ to move." Blake said, joining in the fray to keep the Grimm at bay.

Weiss pulled out her Scroll and quickly switched to the GPS. _Come on.. Come on.._ Weiss thought to herself, hoping beyond hope that it would pick up a signal. Much to her relief, it found a signal and she could see how far they were. It was only a few more miles which they would easily be able to do by foot, if not for the Grimm.

"We're close to the area, but I don't know if we'll be able to shake them off getting there." Weiss said, closing her scroll and shoving it in one of her pockets.

Blake pondered to herself for a moment. "Neo, I need you to try and mask Yang and Weiss from sight. I'll make some shadow-clones to pull the Grimm away and hopefully back into the woods. Weiss, Yang, you make your way over to a safe area. " Blake said, afterwards looking for confirmation from Neo.

Neo nodded at her, finishing off the Grimm on her with ease before setting in motion the illusion. Within the blink of an eye, Blake was unable to see the other three anymore. She held Gambol Shroud with both hands and shot at the Grimm.

"Come here, you monsters! Come here!" Blake taunted, continuing to fire at them. Quickly she reloaded and threw one part of Gambol Shroud in the tree towards the massive Grimm Horde, swinging on it. She looked over her shoulder for a moment, seeing the horde of Grimm following her.

 _Luckily, that worked.. Now to lead them away._ Blake thought to herself as she swung from tree to tree. Under her feet, she could see the rampaging horde turn in on itself, stampeding over each other in order to get to her. Heavy trees were felled by the Deathstalkers trying to get to her, snapping the base of the trees with their enormous claws. Blake kept calm, continuing her fast swinging through the trees.

Blake heard the rustling of leaves and immediately she knew something was wrong. Looking to her left, she could see someone with a white Nevermore mask follow her through the trees, piercing red eyes staring back into Blake's. It almost seemed.. Familiar to her somehow.. Nonetheless, it was another threat Blake would need to deal with. Looking below, she saw that the horde of Grimm had thinned significantly, leaving only a few Beowolf, Boarbatusk and Ursa following her.

A flash of dust and a heavy metallic locking sound disturbed Blake's through process again as a large blade of ice-dust was shot at her, freezing everything it hit. Using her momentum, Blake flew up above the leaves. Blake loosened the ribbons on her left arm, letting her freely use the sheath and the ribbon. She also changed Gambol Shroud to it's sword-position, ready to attack her ambusher at any moment. From the trees, a large arc of Fire-dust flew up. As Blake hit the dead point of her momentum, the dust triggered and exploded, masking the area in smoke.

Her vision obscured, Blake relied on her Faunus senses. Her cat-ears listened intently for any sound and Blake closed her eyes to enhance them even further. For a moment, there was only deafening silence. Again, Blake heard the heavy locking sound and looked down, an Air-dust blade sending the ambusher flying through the smoke towards Blake. Blake's blood froze in her veins as she realized who her ambusher was.

Quickly Blake brought up Gambol Shroud's blades, blocking the attack. However, the momentum of the air-blade carried onto Blake and launched her even further up into the air. Blake quickly loaded her dust rounds and dove through the air towards the trees again, trying to run. But the heavy-locking sound indicated another attack coming. Immediately Blake used her semblance to create an earthen clone, which got hit by a heavy ice blade. Blake gave Raven one last glance before she dove into the leaves of the trees again, using her semblance freely to try and get away from Raven, in whatever way she could.

Heavy blasts felled trees once more, undoubtedly by Raven's weapon. Again, Blake dove up above the trees, using an air-dust bullet to create a shadow-like clone of herself and attempting to hide away from Raven by letting it go on instead of her. Blake held her breath as she hid in the thick branches of one of the trees, looking down as she saw Raven pass by quickly.

As Blake watched Raven leave further into the woods, she waited a few moments longer before she climbed out of the tree. Her ears perked up, listening for any sound nearby. Blake released her breath, calming down a bit again as the adrenaline faded. Taking out her scroll, she searched for where she was, only to find herself miles away from their intended point. Cursing to herself, she put the scroll away. An unfamiliar sound reached her ears. But, by then it was too late as a heavy ice-dust projectile hit her and froze Blake's entire left arm, sending her flying across the forest floor and crying out in agony.

Blake felt the burning of the ice on her skin, even through the disguising clothing she wore. She grit her teeth and attempted to get up, only to fall back down again. In the process, she managed to chip the ice, giving her a new idea. Now repeating the process, Blake focused on breaking the ice instead.

But somewhere Blake knew it was futile. The heavy metal revolving sound was close to her and a heavy locking sound spelled it out already. Blake could only stare in wide-eyed horror as Raven pulled her blade from its sheath, the blood-red edge being slowly put at Blake's neck. That was the last thing Blake saw, before darkness took her.

* * *

It had been relaxing going out with Jaune again. He had shown her through a few of the beautiful sights in Mistral. In all honesty, it was quite impressive to Ruby. Compared to the architecture and style of Atlas, and the still in repair Vale, it was a nice change. People generally seemed quite friendly. It reminded Ruby of how Vale used to be.

"So, let's get a drink somewhere and call it a night?" Jaune suggested.

Ruby nodded at him and held onto his hand. They walked up to a pub that Ruby found to be a spot that Qrow would like. _Qrow.._ Ruby thought to herself. This time, the name didn't bring up anger. It brought up guilt. Ruby never gave him a chance to explain himself after his admission. But what Phare had said was true. Accepting that she was his daughter was not letting it go. Talking to him could do so. Ruby made a mental note to call him later.

As Jaune's hand went to the door, it was flung in his face as a hooded pair stormed out with loud yelling from within the bar itself. In the movement, Ruby felt a hand slip to her belt and attempt to take the wallet.

"Hey, get off!" Ruby yelled, grabbing the thief's' hand. The thief looked up at Ruby and instantly Ruby recognized her. Ruby attempting to grasp at the hand even tighter to keep her there, but she slipped away, bolting immediately for it, the hoods of both of them falling off revealing mint-green and silver hair respectively.

Without hesitation, Ruby moved back to the outside part and unsheathed Crescent Rose to follow them.

"Hey, wait up! Who are those two?" Jaune asked quickly.

"Emerald and Mercury. They were with Cinder during Beacon and were supposed to be at the base we raided. Jaune, we need to find them quickly." Ruby said, loading Crescent Rose with gravity bullets.

"Hold up! Mistral Law Enforcement!" a familiar voice suddenly yelled. Out stumbled a blonde-haired monkey faunus and a light-blue haired man.

Ruby couldn't wait. She needed to catch them and quick. Ruby used Crescent Rose to get her momentum started before using her Semblance to quickly catch up to the escaping pair.

Outside the pub, Sun and Neptune stood awestruck. "Holy…" Sun started, mouth agape in the speed at which Ruby just took off.

"Oh. Hey fella's." Jaune said and made a small wave towards the pair.

Neptune inspected Jaune for a moment, before he looked incredibly confused. "Jaune..?"

"In the flesh." Jaune said. "But I've got to help Ruby. I'll talk to you guys later if you've got time!" he finished, before running in the same way Ruby went.

Ruby was hurriedly hopping from rooftop to rooftop to follow the pair. They didn't seem to split, which caused Ruby to think they were going to lure her into a trap. Each rooftop they jumped got them closer and closer to the harbor, the many ships in it still busy with unloading and loading goods. Emerald and Mercury took a leap, landing on the dock and making their way inside one of the warehouses.

Ruby landed close after them, but didn't rush into the warehouse immediately. Quickly she typed on the pad on her wrist, and launched a small beacon for Jaune to find on his own pad. Reloading Crescent Rose with normal bullets, she stepped inside. The warehouse was empty, only making Ruby think she was right in her assumption of a planned trap. Maybe it was on the fly, but this could still end up bad. She held Crescent Rose ready as she walked further and further inside the large Warehouse. _Jaune'll be here to back me up soon. My guess, a minute. Sixty seconds. I can hold on for so long easily._ Ruby thought to herself.

Within an instant, Mercury was upon her. Deftly, Ruby spinned Crescent Rose so that it formed a large shield, deflecting most of his attacks. In turn, Mercury focused his attacks on staggering Ruby, attempting to halt the blade's turning. Behind her, Ruby could hear Emerald land before firing. Ruby shot and launched herself away from the pair landing swiftly before taking aim and firing at the two of them. Each shot missed, their speed outmatching her range.

Again Mercury dove for an instant offensive, attempting to tire Ruby. Ruby blocked one of his attacks and attempted to attack herself. But Mercury countered, knocking her back. Now Emerald had started his offensive, attempting to shoot at Ruby at a range to support Mercury. Using her semblance, Ruby tried to get in close towards Emerald again only to be kicked out of it by Mercury. Ruby hissed in pain as Mercury's foot connected and she was flung, sliding over the concrete flooring of the warehouse.

Mercury grinned at her, causing Ruby to only peer with anger at him in return. "Some things you never unlearn, 'Red'." he said, once again closing in to Ruby.

But the sound of glass shattering broke the fighting in the warehouse as Jaune came from above and landed in front of Mercury's path. Jaune immediately attempted to bash him with his shield only for Mercury to adapt in the last moment and bounce off of it.

"Now, it's even." Jaune said, pulling his sword from the shield.

"Hm. Weren't you that blonde kid, with that copper-haired girl?" Mercury said, looking confused at him. Jaune merely pursed his lips.

"Gods.. name is right on the tip of my tongue." Mercury said, snapping his fingers, mockingly acting his attempt to remember her name. Jaune advanced on him, intending to strike at him, but Mercury had no problem jumping away from him.

"Something, something.. Shit, she was on all those Pumpkin Pete boxes." Mercury continued, only making Jaune grip his sword and shield tighter and tighter.

"Emerald, come on, help me, I can't figure out her damn name." Mercury taunted further, looking towards her for a single moment, in mock pleading. He quickly dodged a shot from Ruby.

"You disgust me.." Emerald said to Mercury, shifting her weapons into their kama form. She made her way over to Ruby, immediately trying to strike her. But Ruby had reacted quickly, spinning Crescent Rose horizontally to keep Emerald at a distance before attempting to strike herself.

"Oh yeah! I remember! 'The Invincible Girl!'. Well, guess she wasn't that invincible. Seeing as she's dead." Mercury said, his tone laced with poison. Jaune transformed his gun to the gauss rifle and shot at Mercury whom had underestimated the force behind the shot, seeing the destruction it left behind.

"Struck a nerve, have I?" Mercury taunted again as Jaune advanced on him, deftly dodging most of Jaune's strikes at him. Then, Mercury saw an opening as Jaune's shield was lowered slightly. Using his boot, he shot and increased the momentum for a kick to Jaune's head, which was sure to hit. Internally he grinned, until his foot hit and the energy of his kick was redirected to Mercury himself, shattering his prosthetic leg as he was flung away, making parts of it scatter on the floor.

Emerald quickly deflected one of Ruby's strikes, grunting at the damage it still did despite her block. It seemed that the more and more she fought against Ruby, the whiter she glowed and the stronger her hits were. Emerald was sure she had hit Ruby a couple of times, so why was she only becoming stronger and stronger?.. Had Cinder been right?

Ruby brought down Crescent Rose on Emerald, who could only block it overhead, leaving Emerald to stare at the pointed edge of Ruby's weapon. Emerald pushed back on her and jumped away, surveying the fight. Mercury had gotten up again, but the loss of one of his prosthetics would mean that he couldn't stand up to them in a fight anymore. Calming herself down, Emerald used her semblance.

Ruby quickly took aim on Emerald before everything turned dark and muted. Ruby took a deep breath and returned to spinning Crescent Rose vertically to defend herself within the darkness. Jaune held up his shield and readied himself to use his own semblance, expecting an attack.

Emerald grunted at the effort. She had become better at controlling the minds of people, but still the stronger someone was, the harder it would be. Quickly she ran over to Mercury, helping him up by the shoulder and making her way to the entrance of the warehouse again without saying a word.

Once outside, Emerald could feel the pressure on her head keep increasing. She let go of Mercury as they bumped into a wall, holding onto her head and gritting her teeth to stomach the pain.

"Come on Emerald, we need to hide. They'll be sure to follow once their hallucinations wear off." Mercury said, hopping towards the densely stacked crates on the dock.

Pushing off of the wall, Emerald followed Mercury before she felt like she was on fire, her muscles spasming out of control. She fell onto the floor, gasping at the pain.

"Yeah. You're not getting away. I need that wallet, you know." Neptune said, changing his weapon to its rifle form and keeping it leveled at her. "Now hands above your head and don't try anything stupid."

Emerald peered angrily at him before slowly raising her hands above her head. Neptune looked up for a moment as the door was slammed open, revealing Ruby and Jaune again. Ruby looked confused at Emerald and Neptune, lowering Crescent Rose.

"... Neptune? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"Upholding the law and stopping these thieves. Sun and me followed Jaune and came upon the warehouse just in time to see this girl and the other guy leave it." Neptune said.

"So.. where's Mercury?" Jaune asked, slotting his sword back into the shield.

"You mean the other thief? Sun's chasing him. We've got backup on the way, but if you want to help him.." Neptune said, shrugging as he looked down on the floor again, continuing to point his rifle at Emerald.

"Thanks." Ruby said quickly before using Crescent Rose to get onto the roof of the warehouse and surveying the area. A few flashes of light, most likely from gunfire, pointed out to her exactly where she needed to be. Firing again, she flew through the air to land on the crates close to the commotion.

"Come on dude, you're literally hopping away on one leg! You're not getting away, so just give up!" Sun said, deflecting another one of the Mercury's shots with his staff. "Yeah, if you could just stop with that bullshit, that'd be great."

Ruby jumped down from the crates, disturbing Mercury's concentration on the turning to continue his attack on Sun. He attempted to spin again, but Ruby stopped his leg with Crescent Rose before pointing the blade of her scythe underneath Mercury's chin.

"Make a move, and I _will_ shoot." Ruby spoke, the threat serious as she peered angrily at him.

Slowly Mercury raised his hands, a smirk on his face. "Alright, you caught me Ruby. You win."


	21. Chapter 21: Family Ties

Hi. Uhh. Yeah. It's been a while. Well, clearly I am not dead, because else I wouldn't be writing this author's note. So, this is going to be a little update. Let's start where the last one ended:

My internship has been _kicking my ass_ in terms of my energy. I hadn't expected to take this much out of me, but 40 hour workweeks of basically writing code leaves me usually exhausted to the point where I have no desire to write. It also didn't help that I had a massive writer's block regarding this chapter. But by the good graces of RoosterTeeth and especially RWBY Volume 4 Ep 1, I have now regained new fervor and changed a couple of things that would play out later in the story (which are going to be way more awesome and interesting now).

On that note, I'd also like to say that I will keep the story as is. I will not retroactively edit some of the story due to things that have happened or will happen in Volume 4. Why? Because I feel it'd interfere and damage the structure of the story too significantly. That being said, there are elements which are going to be used for sure. I'm not going to spoil them though.

I however have something to say about everyone that's been reading or read the story. You guys are absolutely amazing. Last time I checked in August I was at 30k views, and today while I was updating I hit 38k views. I've had a couple of people favoriting and following the story and even me. I still can't really explain how humbling it is to me that even after 2 months of literally NO content, I still garner an interest. Seriously. Thank you. I know I've said multiple times I write the story for me, because I want to write it, but it helps to have you guys 'here' if you will.

Right, so now that that's all out of the way, I'm going on to the actually interesting part for you guys. Right now (literally, 20 minutes ago as I'm writing this) National Novel Writing Month started. And I'm going to be doing that. However, I'm going to do that for this story. So what can you expect? Well, I'm going to aim for **_1600 words a day_**. Which means faster updates (going to aim for bi-daily) and generally way more content. AWESOMESAUCE.

Alright, kept you from the story long enough, so I'm just going to let you continue on. Enjoy Chapter 21: Family Ties.

* * *

Chapter 21: Family Ties

After the commotion with Emerald and Mercury, Ruby and Jaune made their way back home. They had a brief talk with Sun and Neptune, with Sun asking questions mainly about Blake and Neptune asking questions about Weiss. Ruby had rolled her eyes at the questions, but couldn't help but smile while Jaune awkwardly responded to the both of them. After both of the criminals were processed, Ruby and Jaune could leave. However

On the way back, Ruby thought mostly about everything that happened in the past weeks. From being perfectly fine in doing what she was as an Atlas specialist, to being the Summer Maiden. The power within her still tingled oddly and today's revelations weren't much of a help in regards to her understanding more about it.

"What's up?" Jaune asked, flashing her a smile with his arm still around her shoulder as they walked.

Ruby looked up at him, slightly dazed from being pulled from her train of thought. "Oh. Uh. Nothing much. Why?".

"You had that look on your face again. The 'I'm thinking' look. Where you kind of zone out. Like you're daydreaming." Jaune said, laughing a little.

"Yeah. I guess I was a little." Ruby replied, rubbing her arms slightly to warm them in the night air. "It's just, a month ago life was so very different. I'm just a little overwhelmed I guess.".

Jaune chuckled. "You can say that again.".

In silence they continued walking, just the two of them together with their thoughts as they continued down the cozily lit streets of Mistral.

"Ruby. I've been thinking.." Jaune started. "I think I should return Crocea Mors."

Ruby perked up a little from that and looked at Jaune. "Are you sure? I mean.."

"I know. But I've always felt like it was a bit of a hand-me down. Like I never earned it, remember? And, you know, it might give me a chance to show my parents what I've become. I haven't seen them since I ran off to Beacon." Jaune said.

"If you feel you need to, then do it." Ruby said in a determinative tone, flashing a small smile at Jaune.

"Yeah.. I uh. Did want to kind of.. You know, ask you to come with me. As, I don't know, support?" Jaune said, rubbing his neck as he did so.

"Of course. I mean, you came here with me. Only fair that I come with you as well." Ruby said. "I mean, as your girlfriend.."

Jaune smiled at her then kissed the top of her head. "I love you."

Ruby smiled back and rest her head on his shoulder. "I love you too.".

* * *

Blake's head throbbed as she returned to her senses. Opening her eyes, she found she could not see anything. Trying to move, she also found her hands and legs were bound tightly. Breathing in deep, she remembered why.

 _Raven._

She had attacked Blake in the forest, and presumably taken her. Where however, was another question entirely.

"I see you've awoken." a voice echoed through the darkness.

Blake held her tongue, remaining as still as she possibly could.

"I've not captured you to harm you. But rather to.. Move things along." the voice echoed again. Blake presumed it was Raven's voice.

Blake saw it in the distance. Piercing eyes of red. Much like those of a Nevermore.

"Time doesn't wait on everyone. And fate sometimes needs a helping hand." the voice said, a slight hint of annoyance in the voice. "And time is running out.".

The faint sounds of an explosion could be heard before the silence once again overtook it.

"At last, they are here. Now we play the waiting game." the voice coldly stated before the red eyes disappeared.

"And let's hope you are all ready."

* * *

Yang reared back her fist before striking hard against the door, adding one of her explosive fire-dust 'shots' to the mix. Immediately the heavy door buckled against the force, sending it inwards of the base.

"Let's go." Yang said, her temper still flaring up.

After escaping the Grimm, Blake's signal had been lost for a while. Until the three of them had come upon the base. Then the signal returned. It hadn't taken Yang long to reach a conclusion, and her rage reflected her opinion of it.

Slowly the lights in the base started turning on with heavy thuds. Weaponry, dust and maps were all around. Weiss walked over to one of the larger planning tables. Examining it, she founds maps from all the kingdoms. Vale, Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo. Even Menagerie had a map that had many markers on it.

"Something's not right." Weiss said as she rolled up a few off the maps and stuffed them into a satchel on her hip. "This place isn't supposed to be empty. Even if they were expecting us, it makes no sense for them to leave all of this just in the open.".

"I don't care." Yang said, the heat rolling off her in waves as she continued onwards.

"Yang, think. This is a trap." Weiss said calmly, unsheathing Myrtenaster.

Neo nodded as she stood alongside Weiss, pointing towards a camera that was clearly being monitored.

Yang peered angrily at it before sending a blast towards it, obliterating the camera. "Now they know we're here. Now what?"

"Well, we have no idea how strong Raven really is, or why she made a trap like this. It makes no sense. We should've been outnumbered greatly. Yet it looks like this place has been empty for almost a week." Weiss rationalized, "My guess. This is all part of the plan. She knew we were coming before we even did and wanted us to know everything.".

Neo and Yang both looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"Raven wants us to find her. To confront her. Taking Blake has led us here as well." Weiss continued. "This is a trap. But it's leading us somewhere.".

"Then let's go. I've still got enough to say to my mother and I'm done chasing her. Nevermind that she has taken Blake." Yang said, her temper still not cooled down. Neo looked with concern but followed after her anyway, with Weiss close behind.

* * *

Ruby and Jaune had explained to Phare why they had to go back to Vale for a few days. She had reluctantly agreed, however Ruby had promised her she would work on her 'block'. What that was, Jaune didn't know, but felt it was something private between the two in their trainings sessions.

They had taken a nightly airship, to make sure they wouldn't stay away too long, and be back as soon as they could so Ruby could continue training. They could sleep on the ship anyway.

Only problem was, Jaune couldn't.

Ruby was curled up in her cloak, her head resting on Jaune's shoulder. Jaune stared at the weapon in his hands. Crocea Mors. ' _Yellow Death',_ Jaune thought. He always found the name to be so crude. A weapon literally named after death and the color his family was known for. Such was a family heirloom, Jaune thought to himself.

Slowly, Vale came into view. They flew past the broken top of the Beacon tower, the ruins casting a beautiful shadow in the light of the dawning sun. Although the flight hadn't taken long, it was still odd to go from the night of Mistral to the day of Vale.

Growing closer, Jaune felt himself grow more anxious. He knew he wanted to do this, but there was still a certain part that was doubting whether his parents would be proud of him. Whether his sisters would be proud of him. After all, he was the sole male heir of his name. Not that there was a rich heritage to his name, but there was still a certain pride connected to the name 'Arc' from the past wars.

Gently, Jaune shook Ruby. "We're at Vale, Ruby. Wake up.".

With a soft murmur, Ruby opened her eyes. Still sleepy, she gave Jaune a goofy grin. "Good morning."

Jaune chuckled as he stood, hooking Crocea Mors to his belt. "Good morning to you too. Slept well?".

Ruby stretched, groaning loudly as she stretched her arms behind her. "Yes, very. You?".

"Not at all." Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Ruby gave him a disapproving look. "You should've woken me up earlier then. We could've talked or something.".

"It's fine Ruby. I'm just glad you're here with me." Jaune said, holding out his hand for her to take to stand up.

Sighing, Ruby took his hand and stood. "Remember what I said, though. Rely on me the same way I rely on you. We're doing this together." she said, giving the blonde a small smile, which was answered by a roll of the eyes and a gentle kiss.

"Yes. I'll remember." Jaune said with a hint of amusement in his voice, sliding his fingers between Ruby's.

A soft thud and stumble signalled that they had landed, and it wasn't soon after that the doors opened with a hissing sound. Daylight blinded them for only a brief moment as the dawning sun greeted them.

"Well. Let's go find my parents." Jaune said as he left the airship.

* * *

Weiss had obsessively been gathering the information scattered around the base. There was still the chance in her mind that Raven would escape them and they would need all the intel they could get from this place. However, every time she stopped to grab some more she could feel the heat rolling off of her teammate increase in intensity. Weiss of course knew this wasn't because of her, but it still didn't make her feel any more at ease.

"Can we please get a move on, Weiss?" Yang spat, causing Neo to stick a finger up in the air as if to make a point. "Yes, Neo, I know, tactical importance, but that doesn't mean Blake's any less captured. So, let's, go."

They had been walking through the base for the last hour. It was exceptionally large despite its hidden nature. Weiss pulled out her scroll and checked the GPS again. "Blake's signal is up ahead. Only a little further and we should be seeing where it's coming from." Weiss said, keeping her scroll open as they walked as the base opened up to a larger area.

"Stop." Weiss suddenly called out, causing both Yang and Neo to turn towards her. Weiss kneeled down and picked up the broken Scroll.

Neo's heart skipped a beat as she heard the heavy metallic clunk. The irises of her eyes turned white as snow from the fear as she ran towards Yang and Weiss to take them to the ground, narrowly avoiding the flaming blade flying towards them. It didn't take long for Yang to stand from the tackle, taking a stance and scanning her surroundings. Her anger hadn't faded in the least and it was then that she locked with the red eyes.

"Ah. Hello my daughter." her voice called out, not a hint of any emotion in the words.

Fury overtook Yang as she lunged towards the shining red eyes only to strike at a phantom. Yang could only react in time to cross her arms as the counter-attack from a wind slash hit her back to middle of the area, her feet digging into the concrete to weather the blow.

"Hmm. Curious. I thought you had only one arm left, since Adam had .. relieved you of one." Raven mocked, the taunt reverberating through the area only further fueling Yang's rage.

Neo helped Weiss up, handing her Myrtenaster. Weiss gratefully took it and readied herself, as did Neo. "Yang. She's taunting you. Don't fall for it. She wants you to give in to your anger." Weiss said, as calm as she possibly could hoping it would reach Yang.

"Ah, Roman's old lackey and the Schnee heiress, fighting by your side. I wonder why you're allying with your enemy. You must still remember that I saved you from _her_ trying to _kill_ you." Raven said, stepping out of the shadows.

Immediately Yang reacted, shooting her gauntlets behind her, propelling her towards Raven with a cry of anger. A flash of light and Yang's metallic fist had connected with the flat side of Raven's blade. An explosion at the point of impact blew Yang back again, but Weiss was quick to react and create an icy slide that would safely slow down Yang's momentum of the explosion.

Raven scoffed, sliding the broken fire dust blade back into the revolving chamber, spinning it and pulling out another blade. "Come on. Is this all you have? Such a measly punch. I'm almost ashamed to call you my blood." Raven mocked, the words laced with malice. "Barely fit to even save her friend."

"ENOUGH!" Yang yelled, a small nova of her heat expelling out from her, staggering Neo and Weiss but leaving Raven mostly unfazed. "I've had enough of _you_. _I_ am ashamed of you. About the fact that you as a mother left me to fend for myself. But then Summer came, and treated me like her own daughter. Showed me kindness, compassion. _Love._ All my life I have been directing all my anger towards you and let it fuel me, let it _consume_ me as I tried to improve. Not only for my sake, but also for Ruby's. So I could protect her."

Slowly, the heat in the area faded away. But the fire around Yang's hair and in her eyes only burned fiercer and fiercer.

"Then your 'apprentice'. Your 'protégé' took my arm as I tried to defend part of what I loved in this world. That which mattered to me. And I lost everything all over again. Because of you!" Yang yelled, tears slowly streaming from her eyes.

"But I'm done with that. I am done with the past. I _am_ going to beat you. And you are coming with us, whether you want it or not." Yang said, staring into the red eyes with her own, filled with determination.

Under the Nevermore mask, Raven smiled broadly and earnestly.

"Good. Then show me everything you've got."

* * *

Jaune's finger hovered over the doorbell. He felt a reassuring squeeze in his hand from Ruby, but it did nothing to calm his nerves. He swallowed and pushed it. Silently, he hoped nobody would be home. But again, he swallowed in and pushed down the fear of it all.

A stumbling sound could be heard from inside before the door slowly opened. "Jaune..?" the violet-haired girl hesitantly asked, her voice nearly a whisper.

Jaune awkwardly rubbed his neck and looked away. "Hey sis.."

The door was flung further open and the girl jumped towards him, embracing him tightly and burying her face in his shoulder. Jaune eyed Ruby nervously who only gave him a compassionate smile and let go of his hand so he could return the hug, which he did gently.

"We all thought you had died so long ago.. But then the legends were spread and I think we all just knew that it was you. It could've been only you." the girl sobbed into his shoulder.

"Yeah.. Sorry. I should've come by earlier. But I won't be staying, Violet. Sorry." Jaune said, letting go of the embrace.

"At least come inside. I'm sure Mom, Dad and the others are going to be just as glad to see you." Violet said, wiping away the tears with the back of her hand before noticing Ruby.

"Oh, sorry. I'm so rude.. My name's Violet, I'm Jaune's second youngest sister." Violet said and held out her hand.

"Ruby Rose. Jaune's.. uhh.. partner." Ruby said, smiling a little awkwardly as she shook Violet's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you. Come on, let's go." Violet said, motioning for them to follow her.

Down the hallway a male voice could be heard. "Who was at the door?"

Violet motioned for Jaune and Ruby to keep quiet. To Jaune, everything felt like how it was since he left. For Ruby, the house was very impressive due to how large it was inside. It surprised her. But then again, Jaune had told her he had seven sisters. It would make sense for them to have a large house, although most would've left by now since Jaune was the third-youngest of the family.

"Oh, an old acquaintance. I'm sure you'll recognize them." Violet said before turning the corner towards the very large living room. The greying man sitting in the chair stood up as Jaune turned the corner into view, not even speaking any words as he embraced his son tightly, Jaune returning the embrace tightly.

"My boy.. Finally you came back." his father said, before breaking the hug after a little while.

"Yes, dad. Although I've only come here for one reason." Jaune said and unhooked Crocea Mors from his belt.

"I've come to return what I took all those years ago."


	22. Chapter 22: Family Reunion

**Let it be said that I'm a man of my word. Day 1 of NaNoWriMo - 2522 words! Way ahead of schedule. But I'm going to aim for that 2,5k daily. So on to write 1300 more words! Also, when I uploaded Chapter 21, I had a massive jump of 2k views. Which is amazing. You guys are amazing. Hope you all will enjoy Chapter 22: Family Reunion!**

* * *

Chapter 22: Family Reunion

With a roar, Yang unleashed herself on Raven, starting a relentless assault. Where she was previously frenzied, there was now a weird sense of calm through her anger. She was thinking as she fought. Every hit that Raven parried visibly weathered her blade and shook the ground with the sheer force behind the blow.

Raven struck out at Yang, but Yang swiftly dodged the attack to continue her assault only to be deterred by a kick to the stomach. Raven looked at the blade, the Dust already cracked and falling away in certain places. She unlocked the lock on her handle and sliced multiple times rapidly, every strike enhanced by her aura to create a flurry of fire around her before disposing of the blade itself. Quickly she turned the revolving chamber and pulled out the frost Dust blade from the sheath.

Weiss quickly acted on Raven's attack, activating the ice-Dust within the chamber of Myrtenaster and creating a protective glyph around them, activating it by stabbing her weapon through the ground and channeling her aura through it. A strong ice-like wind deterred the flames on the outside of the glyph and caused them to fizzle without much issue.

"Yang, we need a plan. She's clearly too strong. But her blades are her only defense and offense." Weiss stated, already having analysed how Raven fought. "We need to wear her down so she has to switch the blades, then strike.".

"Alright, so how do you propose we do that then?" Yang said, gritting her teeth as she gently touched the tender skin where the kick had landed. Even though her aura had taken most of the blow, the pain was still noticeable. This was on a different level than when she'd fight her father. There was no holding back now.

"We're going to need Blake. Neo!" Weiss called out. Neo looked at her and nodded using her illusions to disappear into thin air, cloaking herself from sight so she could safely escape the fight and find their captured friend.

"Now, all we have to do is hold out until we're complete again." Weiss sighed to herself before taking her fencing stance again.

Raven advanced on the two of them with her blade drawn and striking upwards as she came close, creating rising ice spikes from the floor breaking through the concrete. Yang and Weiss both ducked and rolled away from each other to dodge the attack. Raven smirked to herself as she turned towards the Schnee heiress. Quick stabbing strikes made by Raven were rapidly parried by Weiss as she watched every parry cast more frost on her rapier.

Yang quickly made her away around the spikes and shot an explosive shot towards Raven who easily dodged it. The impact of the shot on the ice-spikes shattered them into a million pieces as it rained shards, giving Weiss a window to get out as Raven had to shield herself from them.

"Clever. Either way you would've distracted me." Raven said, her tone still taunting. She swirled her sword around her, the shards expelling around her into the walls before reslotting the frost Dust blade and pulling out a yellow earthen blade. One slash immediately showed the immense power of it as it wrecked the concrete without any effort on Raven's part.

"Yang." Weiss calmly said.

"Yeah?" Yang returned, the fire around her hair still burning fiercely.

"Freezerburn?"

"Freezerburn."

Yang launched herself towards Raven, who prepared her strike. But instead of following through on the attack, she changed her flight to kick off of her, flying up in the air. Aiming behind her, Yang fired and propelled her down to the large ice sheet Weiss had formed, clouding the entire area in a heavy fog.

 _Clever again_. Raven thought to herself as she struck the ground hard.

* * *

Further into the complex, past their battlefield Neo ran as fast as she could in an attempt to find Blake. Neo cursed herself for being mute at this very moment as she had no way to call out to Blake in order to get her position. Then, a mischievous plan formed in Neo's head. Quickly she took out her scroll, pumping the volume of the ringtone to maximum and setting to one of the device's default options: a cat's meow.

Then she repeatedly pressed the button to play the sound, hoping that this way it would be picked up.

Neo breathed a sigh of relief as she heard the sounds of struggling and she quickly found Blake on her side trying to remove the ties around her wrists. Quickly Neo put her scroll away and slid out the sharp handle of her weapon and cut the ties on her hands. Blake was startled as her hands were suddenly freed, but regained her calm as she saw who her rescuer was as the multi-colored girl smiled at her with an earnest grin.

"Neo. Glad you're here. Where are Yang and Weiss?" Blake quickly asked as Neo cut her leg bindings. Neo stood up and mimicked a few punches and the drawing of a blade.

Blake quickly stood up, she didn't have to be told twice what that would mean. "Then let's get back quickly. They're probably going to need our help in defeating her." Blake said as she grabbed Gambol Shroud.

Neo quickly nodded, motioning Blake to follow her as she ran towards the fight again.

* * *

Blake held her breath as they came to the battleground. Pieces of the roof were missing, letting daylight filter in. Large shards of ice were embedded into the walls and the fog had slowly faded away. Yang and Weiss were panting heavily as they deflected more attacks by Raven and didn't look much better.

Where Raven had some Dust on her clothing, or a couple of small rips due to nicks, Weiss had a cut above her eyebrow that was slowly oozing blood which ran down the side of her face. Yang, while blazing hotter than Blake had seen before, had considerable dents in her metallic hand and Ember Celica. Every move she made, she could see the grimace of pain on Yang. She would definitely have some heavy bruising.

Blake kept her voice low as she spoke. "Neo. You create an illusion so they can regroup and create an angle. I'll distract Raven."

Neo nodded as she used her semblance to create glass copies of Yang and Weiss and helping them get away from the position. Raven struck out with her blade again, breaking the earth and the copies with them. She peered at the breaking of the illusions before a heavy strike in her back surprised her, taking an unexpected amount of her aura as it staggered her and the unnoticed assailant jumped away.

She turned around quickly, closing her eyes to listen for more subtle changes. She could hear the footsteps of the others, apparently now three again. _So, Roman's little girl has found Blake and brought her back._ Raven thought to herself. _Let's up the effort then._

As Blake turned to strike again from the shadows Raven parried with ease before bashing her away with her sword. Blake threw out one of her ribbons to a piece of rebar sticking from the broken ceiling, hooking onto it before using the momentum of the bash to try and attack again.

Raven struck out with the blade, sending a large spike of stone from the ground towards Blake. Blake twisted around it and slid alongside its surface towards the ground, unwrapping the ribbon from the rebar and holding her sword and its sheath ready in case Raven attacked. Blake breathed in deeply as she stared into the blood-red eyes with defiance.

Raven laughed to herself. "You have the exact same look as Yang. Fitting." she said, before swishing around with the blade a couple of times to ready herself.

"Now do something with it." Raven said as she charged in. As she slashed towards Blake, she found herself imbedding the blade into the ice wall in her way with enormous force. She unlocked blade again and turned around, grabbing a fresh windblade from the revolving chamber and turning around, seeing the four huntresses stand ready to start an attack again.

"I have to commend you four. You're giving me a tough time." Raven said. "However, a tough time isn't going to be enough. Bring it everything you've got."

The four of them looked at each other before turning their gazes back towards Raven again.

"Weiss. Will you do the lead?" Yang asked, cracking her neck audibly and rechecking her weaponry, popping the empty clip of shells from Ember Celica and putting a fresh one in.

"Yes.. I've got a plan. Remember the fight with the knight, back from when we were still first years at Beacon?" Weiss asked, adding more Dust to the frost chamber in Myrtenaster using the quickload vial from her pack. "Let's distract and then break through. Blake, Checkmate."

Blake nodded at Weiss and readied her weapon, the glyphs underneath the both of them propelling them in close range to Raven. Quick strikes alternating from the both of them keeping Raven on defensive. It wasn't long before Raven attempted to strike at the duo, Weiss quickly summoning glyphs again to speed up their retreat.

"Start Bumblebee, we'll focus on the distraction" Weiss commanded as she summoned her last strength to create several ice shards from the frost Dust in Myrtenaster. Neo nodded as she created an illusion of herself to get in close to Raven, deftly attacking Raven, not so much to inflict damage but to keep her occupied. Agilely, Neo dodged every strike Raven did towards her and every shard of frost that was shot by Weiss. A surprise kick from Raven sent Neo flying, but the distraction had already been sufficient.

While Raven was being distracted, Yang had taken Gambol Shroud's Ribbon and started her momentum in the swing, increasing with every step by firing with Ember Celica. As Neo flew away, Yang came around. Yang let go of the ribbon and launched herself at Raven, hitting Raven's defensive blade posture as hard as she could. As her fist impacted with the sword, Raven was sent flying into the wall, shaking the entire complex. Dust was kicked up by all the rubble around them and the destruction of a large part of the wall.

The four huntresses swallowed nervously as a few moments passed and the dust around them settled, hoping the fight would be over. But the rubble moved and Raven's blade was still intact. With a small groan Raven stood and slashed with her blade, the dust being removed from around her revealing the sizeable hole in the wall.

"That was good. But unfortunately, if that's the best that you've got, we're done here." Raven said, sliding the blade back into the revolving chamber before stopping at the blood red blades.

"It's a shame you weren't strong enough." Raven sighed as she pulled out the blade.

Neo's eyes grew wide as she saw the blade, trying to create an illusion for the four of them to retreat with. But she was too late, as Raven's kick connected and sent her flying into the wall. Neo slumped over unconscious by the single attack.

Weiss blinked a couple of times as she looked at Raven again. Had she just instantly teleported teleported to Neo? Raven again slashed into the thin air, a small glimpse of a portal appearing before she passed through it in front of Weiss, who could react just in time to bring Myrtenaster up before Raven's sword connected the force of the hit overpowering Weiss and her aura as she was flung over the broken and battered floor, Weiss' consciousness fleeting as she could feel all the pain her aura had previously absorbed.

Blake and Yang shook from their surprise, Blake striking at Raven with Gambol Shroud attached to the ribbons, which she used much like a chain. Raven waited patiently as she blocked Blake's ranged attacks before seeing an opening. She held out her blade, a piece of Blake's ribbons wrapping around it. Then, Raven pulled hard, sending Blake hurtling towards her. Yang's heart felt as if it stopped as her mother's sword connected with Blake, sending her friend, her love, her _everything_ flying through the air.

Then another teleport and Raven stood before Yang. She saw the blade come down, but Yang refused. She refused to come all this way, after all these years, to fail. As Raven's sword came down, it collided with her metallic hand. All the anger and all the hatred was now completely replaced with a desire to protect her friends. No. Not a desire. A need.

Raven peered at Yang as the fire in Yang's eyes grew tenfold. No longer did Raven see all the hate fueling her daughter. She saw something else. Something she hadn't seen in many years. _Tai._ Raven thought, before Yang stopped the blade in her metallic hand.

Yang closed her metallic hand, shattering the blade. Raven's eyes widened in surprise before Yang's left arm reared back and connected. Even with the amount of aura Raven still had, the sheer power behind it was enough nearly fully deplete her energy. The force blew her back, but Yang wasn't finished. She quickly closed the distance again, delivering several fast punches. Raven was barely able to react in time to block the attacks with her broken blade, struggling to hold her footing as the impacts pushed her back more and more.

Yang punched the ground, breaking the uneven terrain even more around them as the building shuddered from the force. Raven jumped into the air and ejected the broken blood-red blade and swapping it for a frost blade. But Yang was faster, as she followed Raven into the air.

Yang reared back her fist and with a loud roar fired her weapon, accelerating the punch. Raven was too late. Again, her blade was shattered before the power and force depleted her aura, sending her flying back down to the ground.

Raven hit the ground, the already destroyed concrete and stone yielding under the sheer force of her impact. Slowly, pieces of the mask fell off of her face, unable to keep together from the sustained damage. Yang stood at the edge of the small crater in which her mother breathed heavily from their fight.

"Give up. We've won." Yang breathed heavily, clutching her bruised ribs carefully.

"Yes. You have. And now you're ready." Raven whispered as darkness took her.

* * *

"Son.. this is yours. By all rights. Even though you never had any training as a hunter before, this weapon has been passed down to the male heir of the family since our name fought in the Great War." Jaune's father said, not taking the weapon from Jaune's hands.

"Dad, I've never felt it was mine. All these years, even during my time at Beacon and Atlas, I've felt guilty for using it. Doesn't Scarlet or Amaranth want it? They have more right to it than I do, being huntresses after all." Jaune said, motioning again for his father to take it.

Ruby hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder, unsure of what to say but wanting to comfort her lover either way.

"Jaune. Do you want to know what happened after you left home?" his father asked calmly, as he shot Violet a small look. Violet nodded and left the room, much to Ruby's curiosity.

Jaune looked at his father with silence. He had always felt guilty for leaving his family, even though he was only trying to honor his family legacy.

"Come. Let's sit. I think we have plenty to talk about. Violet's getting us some tea, also forgive me for not introducing myself to your friend." his father said, holding out a hand towards Ruby with a smile. "Brun Arc.".

Ruby gently shook Brun's hand, but was surprised by his grip. Brun was much more muscled than Jaune, but he could see much of Jaune's in his father. Most notably, the look in their eyes. Bright blue eyes looked right back as she smiled and replied. "Ruby Rose. Jaune's partner.".

"Ah. So you're the girl Jaune didn't return home for." Brun said, laughing deep and heartily as he returned to the sitting area of the living room, near the crackling fireplace.

Jaune sighed to himself as he placed his hand over his face, eliciting a giggle from Ruby. The both of them sat down on the couch on the opposite side of Brun.

Brun breathed in deeply as he leaned back against the couch. "Jaune. When we found out you had left home, Scarlet and Amaranth immediately wanted to go out to look for you. Your mother was very concerned as well."

Jaune stared at his hands as he twiddled around with his thumbs, with a guilty look in his eyes he looked up at his father again. Brun could only smile at his son as he could see the remnants of the clumsy boy that had left house to become the man he was today.

"But I wasn't. Back then I knew you were going down a path you knew you had to take." Brun said. "The only thing I want to say is that I'm sorry and that I'm proud. I know that it must've been lonely in the beginning and that it must've been hard. But seeing what you are today, nevermind even the stories that are told about you, I can only say that you've become a fine man, worthy to wield Crocea Mors."

"But dad.." Jaune started. Brun immediately held up his hand.

"Come on son. When you were younger, you were always practicing with Amaranth's wooden sword when she was away. I remember many time we've had to remove splinters or kiss your booboo's when you did so." Brun said before laughing heartily again, much to Jaune's dismay from the embarrassing little bit from his youth.

"It's yours. I see that you have a different weapon, but it's the Arc legacy. Whether you'll use Crocea Mors or not isn't important. Whether it's yours is.". Brun said, his tone more serious rather than joking. "I've become too old to wield it and I doubt your sisters have any use for it, especially with your older sisters now having started their own families.".

Violet came back into the room as the words of his father settled She placed the tray with the teapot, four mugs and a roll of biscuits on the table between the couches before pouring tea for each of them into the mug.

"So, Jaune and Ruby, what's the story between you two?" Violet asked as she smirked knowingly at Jaune.

"Well, I started in the same year as Jaune. I started when I was fifteen, so I felt a bit lonely as well. I still had my sister there, although she hung around with her friends at the start." Ruby said. "Due to an unfortunate Dust incident, I.. uhh.. had exploded. Jaune helped me up and we started talking. That's about the point where we became friends."

"Hmm.. Were you partners, or in the same team then?" Brun asked, as Violet put the teapot down and divided the mugs amongst them.

"Actually, no. I was in team RWBY, where I was the team leader. Jaune had his own team, JNPR." Ruby said, causing both Violet and Brun to raise their eyebrows.

"A team leader, eh son? How did that go?" Brun said laughingly as Jaune smiled too before looking down at his hands again.

"It went really well. My teammates supported me a lot. Unfortunately, things changed after the battle for Beacon." Jaune said, as he looked up again. "Pyrrha Nikos was my partner.".

Both Brun and Violet lost their smiles now. There were a few quiet moments before Violet spoke. "I'm sorry Jaune. I'm sure she was great.".

Jaune smiled. "Yeah. She was. She taught me how to fight and to believe in myself. She's a big part of the reason why I'm who I am today. After the battle, I asked Ruby to come along with Nora, Ren and me to Mistral, to bring back Pyrrha's weaponry and other stuff to her mother."

Jaune took a sip of his tea before continuing. "After Mistral, Nora and Ren came back to Vale, but I was lost. Ruby got invited to become a huntress at Atlas. And luckily, she asked me to come as well. Ever since, Ruby and I have fought side by side and we've become hunters and even Atlas Specialists together." he finished, grabbing hold of Ruby's hand and squeezing it a little.

"That's quite a story, Jaune." a new feminine voice said. Jaune immediately turned to look around to see his mother smiling at hi. He jumped over the couch and quickly hugged her as she opened her arms for an embrace. "Welcome back home, I've missed you."

"I've missed you too mom." Jaune said, as he let go of his mother. His mother looked past him at Ruby.

"So you're the girl that he's been seen with a few weeks ago, I presume?" his mother said, smiling.

Ruby walked a little closer before she answered. "Yes. Mrs. Arc. I'm Ruby Rose."

"Please dear, Celeste. And thank you from keeping him safe. He was always a little clumsy." Celeste said, winking at her causing another groan from Jaune.

"Honestly, I'm an Atlas specialist! I'm not the clumsy young boy you all remember." Jaune groaned before Brun laughed heartily.

"No, but deep inside, you'll always be that boy to us!" his father said before continuing his laughter. Ruby and Violet giggled as Jaune's mother only smiled warmly at her son.

"Come. Let's sit again." Celeste said. "Scarlet, Amaranth and Clementine are coming, I had already agreed with them to come here today for tea. I think they'll be very surprised to see their younger brother home again. Violet will you..?'

"Already on it. Olivia and Aqua are going to be here in an hour. Lavender's still in class, so she'll be a bit later."

"Good. Thanks dear, It'll be nice to have the family together again." Celeste said as they all seated again. "Now, I'm sure you've had all kinds of adventures since become said Atlas specialist."

Ruby and Jaune glanced at each other for a moment, smiling before continuing with telling their stories.


	23. Chapter 23: Lessons of Past and Present

**Ding-dong. New chapter. This NaNoWriMo thing is working excellently so far. Yes, I uploaded a bit earlier than supposed to. According to schedule, I was supposed to upload tomorrow. But screw it, I'm just going to update now. Because I am really damn proud of myself for this chapter, not to toot my own horn.**

 **Enjoy! Chapter 23: Lessons of the Past and Present.**

* * *

Chapter 23: Lessons of the Past and Present

* * *

Yang grit her teeth as she finished pulling Raven out from the small crater and bound her hands. Her ribs were sore, the cuts from the fight stinging in the open air. Looking around her she saw Weiss slowly crawl back up to her feet, using Myrtenaster to keep standing.

"Weiss, you okay?" Yang asked, taking a small moment to breathe in deeply, gritting her teeth again as she exhaled.

Weiss held up her thumb before pushing off of Myrtenaster to stand by herself again. "Yeah. I'm going to be feeling like hell for a week, but.. I'll be fine." she said.

Parts of her outfit had been stained by some of the cuts she sustained during the fight. "My clothes however, is a completely different story." Weiss said sourly, but she laughed a little still. "What about Raven?"

"I was able to defeat her.. But Blake and Neo are still out. I'll get Blake, will you check Neo?" Yang said, stumbling over to where Blake had been flung by Raven's attack.

"Sure." Weiss breathed unsteadily as she slowly made her way over to the unconscious form of Neo. Weiss kneeled before her to examine the damage and hopefully wake her up.

First she felt her pulse. _Good, steady_. Weiss checked Neo for any sustained damage. There was a cut on one of her arms, slowly oozing blood. Fortunately, it wasn't deep. Weiss pulled out a bandage from one of the packs on her belt and gently wrapped it around Neo's arm, making sure it was tight enough to stem the bleeding but allowing the circulation to continue.

Weiss sighed a little as she sat down on her knees instead of only kneeling. Slowly she shook Neo, attempting to wake her up. "Come on Neo, wake up. Raven's defeated, we've got to move again.".

Blinking, Neo opened her eyes, seeing a blur above her shake her gently. As her vision and head cleared, she could see Weiss. Neo's heart swelled and she couldn't stop herself. She threw her arms around Weiss's neck, closed her eyes and placed her lips on Weiss's.

Weiss was startled by the sudden kiss, by any display of affection in that manner in general. She recoiled, removing her lips from Neo's and staring wide-eyed at her. Neo opened her eyes and looked slightly confused at her before letting her arms fall from Weiss' neck and looking down at her hands in guilt.

"Neo.. I.. uh. Look, I just.." Weiss started, trying to find her words. _Why did she kiss me?_ Weiss thought to herself as she looked at the girl, running through all the reasons in her head. But Weiss found she couldn't clarify it clearly, except to the fact that Neo might have a crush on her.

"Neo, right now there's a few more important things than .. what just happened. We'll talk about this. Later. I promise." Weiss said as she moved to stand again, extending her hand for Neo to take. Neo nodded at Weiss before taking her hand gratefully.

Meanwhile, Yang walked over with the unconscious body of Blake in her arms. "She's still out. Hit her head hard, probably. Weiss, do you know what the plan is to get out of here?"

"Yeah. But I'm going to need some time to ready it." Weiss said before revolving the chamber of Myrtenaster to white dust. She stabbed Myrtenaster in the floor near Raven and a large glyph started forming, piece by piece.

"Anything we can do to help?" Yang said, shrugging her shoulders.

Weiss smiled at Yang. "Yes. You can shut up." she said jokingly.

"Wow! Ice queen got jokes." Yang replied, making Neo laugh soundlessly as well.

"Oh shut it." Weiss replied as she closed her eyes to fully focus.

* * *

Many of Jaune's sisters had joined them as the day flew by. Many tears were shed, but almost all of those were happy. Ruby had laughed a couple of times as Jaune's older sisters berated him for leaving, mostly Scarlet and Amaranth. Clementine had been quite amused by his antics and had mostly congratulated on him 'finally become a man'. Jaune had later whispered to her that Clementine had previously been somewhat of a tomboy and had always teased him with being more of a man than him.

Aqua and Olivia were only slightly older than Jaune, but Aqua had just had her first child and Olivia was very visibly pregnant. Ruby mused to herself that his father hadn't been wrong with the fact that each of his older sisters had started to start a family.

Aqua had tried huntress training, but ultimately decided the huntress life wasn't for her. She instead helped in a dust shop in the downtown area of Vale where she had later met her husband. Now, she ran the shop together with him.

Olivia had helped on rebuilding the Vale Cross Continental Transmit System, mostly on the logistics. Since the tower had been completed, she was in charge of the day-to-day operations.

Ruby found she could talk quite easily with Violet. She was about as old as Ruby was. Violet had chosen not to become a huntress, like Aqua and Olivia. Violet instead chose to become a writer, and if she wasn't writing, she was helping around the house.

Lavender had just started at Beacon, but had apparently seen Ruby around. She was very much in awe of Ruby being there, and had been very excitedly asking her questions and texting her team about both Jaune and her.

Ruby felt oddly at ease. She usually wasn't comfortable easily, and she had thought a massive family like this would make her feel uneasy due to the fact that for the largest part of her childhood it had been only her and Yang, growing up as sisters.

It made her think of Qrow. She thought back on her memories of him. She remembered Yang having told her how Qrow had saved them when they were younger. How they always had so much fun when he visited her and Yang. Slowly the realization crept in. Even though Qrow hadn't been there for her much, he had tried to make his visits as fun as possible. He had taught her how to fight, even though Taiyang had protested in the beginning. He had even been there after she stopped the Dragon atop Beacon.

"So, is it true, Ruby? Are you the Summer Maiden?" Aqua asked. Ruby shook from her trance as she saw everyone staring at her, waiting for an answer. She laughed nervously before clearing her throat.

"How.. did you guys know about the maidens?" Ruby asked, a little taken back by the question.

Brun laughed. "Ruby, our lineage is very old. Our ancestors have fought with the Maidens. The tale of the Maidens is something we've used as a bedtime story for many years. Also, your actions have started garnering even more attention after you've returned to Vale, there's a tension in the air, everyone can feel it."

"Now the question is. Are you a maiden?" Brun asked again, smiling as he did so.

"Yes, I guess so. Me and Jaune went to Mistral because Pyrrha's mother is a specialist in aura. She helped Jaune unlock the Maiden's soul in me and afterwards trained with me in controlling it. We're just back here for a couple of things we needed to resolve before we continue training." Ruby said.

A collective 'ooh' was made by the sisters, laughing as Jaune nervously laughed and looked away.

"So, how did you become the Maiden?" Amaranth asked as she took a small sip of her tea.

"Well. I don't really know.. I just know that my mother was the previous one." Ruby said as the fiddled a little with her fingers. An uneasy silence fell over them as Ruby was clearly not comfortable with the question.

"I'm sorry, just, give me a minute." Ruby said before she stood up and walked to the hallway, flipping open her scroll. She went to the messaging app and quickly tapped on Qrow's image.

 _I'm back in Vale for a few days. I want to talk. Ruby._ She typed, her finger hovering over the send button.

Jaune walked into the hallway as well as Ruby sighed deeply before pressing the button. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I was kind of zoned out there. I was thinking about my Qrow, which inevitably led to thinking about my mother again. And thinking of my mother is still.. hard for me, especially after what happened yesterday." Ruby said, giving Jaune a sad smile. "How are you doing right now?"

"Not bad." Jaune replied, leaning against the wall opposite of Ruby. "I never really expected such a warm welcome back, but it's nice. It's weird seeing my sisters suddenly be so.. motherlike, though.".

"Well, most of them have children themselves. I mean, it's only natural in some way." Ruby rationalized.

"Makes sense. Still doesn't change the fact that they used to stuff me into a dress and put makeup on me for fun." Jaune said sarcastically, grinning at Ruby.

"You mean like at the first years' dance?" Ruby said, stifling her laugh.

"Yup. But think even girlier." Jaune replied and sighed as Ruby couldn't keep in her laughter anymore.

"Oh, that's just.. That's just a perfect picture. I will have to remember that." Ruby managed to say through her laughter before she collected herself again.

"I'm sure you will. But at least you're laughing again."

"Yeah. Sorry for making you worried." Ruby said before stepping over to Jaune and leaning her head against his chest.

"Don't worry about it. I just want you to be comfortable. Even though we might not stay here for long, they are my family and, well, being my girlfriend, they're kind of your family as well." Jaune said, letting his hand glide slowly through Ruby's hair, making Ruby hum in delight.

"I guess so. But still thanks." Ruby said before putting her arms around Jaune's neck and kissing him. They remained this way for a few moments before the clearing of a throat startled the lovers. Nervously they both looked at the source, revealing Jaune's mother to stand there with an amused smirk on her lips.

"I wanted to ask if you two wanted to stay for dinner, but it seems you were both too busy devouring each other's' lips." Celeste said with a mischievous smirk.

Ruby opened her mouth to stammer a response before Celeste held up her hand and smiled earnestly. "Oh don't worry dear. It's young love. Brun and I have been there. But the question still stands. Will you two be staying for dinner?".

Jaune and Ruby locked eyes for a moment, before Jaune turned to his mother again. "Yeah, We haven't gotten anywhere to be right now."

"Good, then I'll get Scarlet and Amaranth to help me out. Could you two lovebirds help Violet and Lavender set the table after you're done?" Celeste asked, giving the both of them a wink before leaving.

"Your mother's nice." Ruby said, grinning at Jaune.

* * *

As the last parts of the glyph collected, Weiss felt like she was going to fall over from exhaustion. The battle hadn't helped her energy and attempting this the first few times had given her a lot of strain. But she was still confident that she could do it. With a heavy sigh she fell to one knee as the glyph was complete, Neo quickly at her side to help her up again.

"Alright. It's ready. We have to stand still in the circle and I'll get us out of here." Weiss said, thanking Neo before standing up straight again.

"So.. this is like some kind of super speed up or something..?" Yang asked as she stood near Weiss, Neo and her unconscious mother, with Blake still passed out in her arms.

Weiss smiled. "Sort of."

With a tap of Myrtenaster, the glyph activated, blinding them with white light. Yang felt her insides churn uncomfortably and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she opened them again to reveal the whiteness having given way to the familiar sight of terrace in the gardens of Beacon.

"What.. in the world..?" Yang said breathlessly, before quickly closing her mouth to keep down the bile that was rising.

"So here we are. That was the escape route. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to faint." Weiss said jokingly breathlessly, before falling over. Immediately Neo ran over to help her up as Winter ran up to the terrace.

"What the hells happened?!" Winter asked hurriedly as she quickly made her way over to Weiss, inspecting her sister carefully. Winter looked serious as she let her thumb glide over the cut on her Weiss's forehead.

"Well, we captured my mother, that's for starters. But it wasn't easy. We need to get her, Blake and Weiss to the infirmary." Yang said. "We did a number on Raven. Blake's probably got a concussion or something, but Weiss just overexerted herself getting us here. She made this massive glyph one moment and then the next we were here..".

Winter's eyes widened before she turned to look at Weiss again, this time with a proud smile. _Guess she does pick up on everything quickly._ Winter thought to herself before gently picking Weiss up, much to Neo's dismay.

"Neo, could you get Qrow? He'll have to carry Raven." Winter said, her voice stern.

"Already here." Qrow's gruff voice sounded, strolling up to the terrace. He looked at Yang, who was busy staring daggers at her uncle.

"I'm impressed, Yang. I really am. And I'm sorry you had to fight her." he said, picking up Raven into his arms.

"She's captured. I'm done. I spent my entire life chasing her and at the very end I got back on my word that I wouldn't let it consume me. But it did, until I snapped out of it while I was actually fighting her." Yang said angrily, not breaking her angry stare.

"I don't care if you're sorry for me. It's best you just get whatever you wanted from this." Yang finished before starting to make her way to the entrance of Beacon.

Qrow sighed heavily as he looked towards Winter. "Not surprising she's angry at you. But I suppose she's more angry at Raven. Give them time. They might reconcile." Winter said before following Yang with Neo quickly following in tow.

Qrow snickered before looking at the unconscious form of his sister in his arms. "If she's half as headstrong as you are, I doubt you two will. But let's hope." he said to himself as he followed after them.

* * *

After dinner, Brun had asked Jaune to take a walk with him, leaving the sisters alone with Ruby. Scarlet and Amaranth had returned home, their children needing more taken care of. Olivia too had gone home, but more due to being tired from her pregnancy. Clementine and Aqua had struck a deal with their husbands for them to take care of the children, so had hung around to talk and drink a little longer. Celeste and Lavender had gone to the kitchen to do the washing up after

"So, I've always been kind of curious. How is Jaune as a kisser?" Clementine asked.

"Clem! Really?!" Aqua scolded.

"What? I'm curious. Not like I'm going to kiss him, I'm married for starters and he's our brother, so a big nono in general. However, it's very clear Ruby is his girlfriend. " Clem said, with a cat-like grin.

Violet shook her head as Ruby nervously laughed.

"Are you though?" Aqua asked, swatting Clementine with her hand.

"Yes. Although we haven't been official, or whatever you'd call it, for long." Ruby said, smiling a little as she wrapped her hands around her glass with a small blush as she thought about it.

"So." Clementine started again, smiling broadly still. "I'll repeat my question. Is Jaune a good kisser?"

Ruby fiddled with her fingers for a bit before finally replying. "I guess. I like it when we kiss. It's not really like I have much in the way of comparison.".

This time, Violet perked up. "Wait, you've never had a relationship before?"

"No, not really.." Ruby said, taking a large sip of her drink. Ruby presumed it was some kind of wine as the taste of it was kind of sweet but still gave her quite a buzz

"Oh really. So Jaune gave you your first kiss. Interesting." Clementine said, swirling the liquid in her cup around.

"Stop teasing her Clem, not everybody was out and about getting every boy hooked on themselves like you." Aqua said, crossing her arms defiantly as she looked at her sister.

"So says you." Clementine said before mockingly impersonating her younger sister. " 'Oh look at me, I'm Aqua, I'm so innocent!' Don't think I hadn't noticed it when you'd sneak out to go to that Cobalt boy down the street.".

Aqua opened her mouth to retort, but chose to keep her silence instead making Clementine laugh out loud again. Ruby only laughed nervously with her as Violet rolled her eyes.

"So, real talk. Vi. When are you going to start dating?" Clementine said, looking at Violet sternly.

"When I find the right man. I'm in no hurry." Violet said making Clementine groan.

"Oh come on. That's nonsense and you know it." Clementine said before downing the rest of her drink and putting the glass down.

"Well.. I wasn't really actively looking for it, but now I'm with Jaune." Ruby said.

"She's got a point." Aqua said, looking at Clementine whom huffed as she was proven wrong.

"Well, still. You've been missing out then. I mean, I _loved_ going through the senior years of Beacon with my partner, if you know what I mean. You guys didn't get that chance." Clementine said casually.

Ruby however was busy imagining it and slowly a warmth spread over her face that spread further and further. Quickly Ruby put her drink to her mouth, trying to hide the blush nonchalantly, but as she locked eyes with Clementine by accident, Ruby knew she was doomed.

"No way." Clementine said incredulously. "Did you and Jaune..?".

Aqua and Violet looked confused at their sister before Ruby shook her head quickly no.

"I'm sorry, but excuse me for not believing you right now. Remind me to high-five Jaune when he comes back." Clementine said as she leaned back in her chair.

Silently, Ruby prayed for Jaune to return quickly to save her from the embarrassment.

* * *

The air in Vale was a little cooler than Mistral's had been. Jaune was often out during their time in Mistral because of Ruby's training and had found himself often wandering around and just helping random people out. He loved that part of being a hunter, the gratitude of helping people in need out. Even though it had been some trivial things, it didn't matter much to Jaune.

"So. Quite a journey already, son. After more than a decade, you return a new man along with a wonderful girl." Brun said, smiling broadly at Jaune.

"Yeah. It's been.. Interesting to say the least." Jaune joked, laughing a little as they continued their little stroll.

"You know son, I always knew that at some point you'd amount to greatness. I could sound cliché and say it's in your blood, but that'd be a lie." Brun said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "I'm proud of how you have forged your own path to follow your dreams. After all these years, it's good to see your path has been kind to you.".

"Thanks dad." Jaune said. "But why did you actually want to talk to me?".

"Jaune, as Crocea Mors is passed down to the next man in our line, the lessons of the past are given to the next wielder. Not to necessarily warn or scare them, but to give them the true meaning of the weapon." Brun said as he stopped before the memorial stone of Jaune's grandfather.

"Crocea Mors. _Yellow Death_. It's a name that is often thought to terrify those on the battlefield that saw it. However, the true meaning of it is often never talked about. You see son, Death is not always an ending. It's also a new beginning. When the one who has wielded Crocea Mors passes the torch, their legacy dies and a new one is started. A new path is carved.".

"When you took Crocea Mors, you unknowingly completed its purpose and learned its lessons. You carved a path for yourself to become what you wanted to be. You were always compassionate and ambitious son, but seeing what you are now, you have ascended even your wildest dreams from when you were younger." Brun said, looking over at Jaune.

"Now, I know these are troubled times. Grimm attacks are becoming more frequent and not to mention there's been no signal from Vacuo in weeks. I know trouble is brewing, but I don't know what it is or what it will be. I know however, that it will not be my conflict, but Ruby and yours." Brun said, sighing a little as he rubbed his hands together to warm them up again.

Jaune silently looked at his father before Brun turned to look at him.

"Jaune, I'm going to give you the same advice my father gave to me many years ago." Brun said. " ' _In trying to defend that which we love, we often lose sight of what we love and forget to protect it._ '. Remember those words son. They helped me focus in troubled times. What you do with Crocea Mors, is your own choice. It's yours, but only if you wish to take it." Brun said, smiling heartily again.

Jaune looked down as his father held up Crocea Mors for him again. Gently he took the weapon before hooking it to his belt. "I'll keep it. To remember you guys.".

Brun merely smiled before continuing on. "You know, I always wondered when I was able to give you those words. How it'd be. I never figured I'd be late with them. But here we are.".

They stood together, looking at the stone in silence for a moment.

"It's about time we get back. I'm sure by now Clementine has tried prying every little bit of information from your girlfriend." Brun said before laughing again as he made his way back to the house.

Jaune took one last glance at the stone. _In trying to defend that which we love, we often lose sight of what we love and forget to protect it._ He repeated in his head, letting his hand slide to Crocea Mors.

In a way, Jaune wished he had been told the words sooner. A pang of guilt ran through him as he remembered Pyrrha and how in trying to become better he had forgotten to see the troubles she had been facing. But then he remembered something completely different.

 _It's time to stop worrying about the past, Jaune._ He thought to himself.

 _Keep moving forward._


	24. Chapter 24: Past, Present, Future

**HOLY SMOKES. 14,767 words so far for NaNo as of writing this author's note. NUTS. Anyways, I hope you are all still enjoying the story. I know I'm updating fast but that's also because I'm pushing myself to keep on that 2,5k a day thing. But, full disclosure, the next chapter might take a bit longer due to some real life stuff. Not going to make any promises!**

 **Anyways, here's chapter 24: Past, Present, Future.**

* * *

Chapter 24: Past, Present, Future.

After Jaune had returned from the walk with his father, Clementine had given him a high five. He still didn't know what for, but he was certain it had to do something with Ruby blushing up a storm. After saying their goodbyes, they had returned to their hotel.

Ruby opened her scroll again to find her message to Qrow was read, but unanswered. She sighed in frustration as she closed her Scroll and flung it towards the bedside stand.

"Still no reply?" Jaune said as he dried his hair, roughly ruffling it with his towel.

"Nope. Least he could've done was like send an 'K' or something, whatever he'd send." Ruby sighed, "I'm just going to go up to Beacon tomorrow. I don't care if he's busy."

"Want me to come with you?" Jaune said, throwing the towel away and crawling into the bed, looping his arm around Ruby's waist to pull her close to him.

"No. I think I need to do this alone. Just one on one. Sorry." Ruby said, smiling apologetically at her boyfriend before giving him a light kiss.

"Fine by me. I think I'll come to Beacon but go hang out with Lavender. I'm sure she'll appreciate that." Jaune said before nuzzling into her neck.

Ruby hummed in delight as he placed soft kisses in her neck. "Where is this suddenly coming from?" she whispered as her hand went to his hair, urging him to continue his kissing.

"Can't I just kiss my girlfriend?" Jaune asked, pinching her sides slightly causing Ruby to jump.

"Of course you can, but.." Ruby started before Jaune's hands started wandering more.

"What's up? Cat got your tongue?" Jaune said, smirking mischievously at her. Ruby just returned the look with a lopsided grin.

"Shut up and kiss me."

* * *

The next morning, Weiss felt like her head was going to burst. The sunlight blinded her and amplified the stinging pain even more as it came through the large windows and woke her.

"Can someone do something against that infernal light? I feel I might hurl from my headache." she said, shielding the light from her eyes with her hand.

Immediately the blinds were closed, much to Weiss's relief. "Thank you.". She said, sitting up in her bed. As Weiss regained her senses, she could also identify better where she was. And remember how she got here.

"I'm at the Beacon infirmary. I teleported Yang, Blake, Raven, Neo and myself when we defeated Raven. Afterwards I lost consciousness." Weiss told herself, giving clarity to herself. She felt a movement close to her before looking upward at it. Neo was stood there, holding out a glass of water and looking concerned.

Weiss looked confused at her for a moment before taking the glass and taking a sip, as she was taught to when drinking any kind of beverage. "Where are the others?" Weiss asked, the pain in her head slowly ebbing away.

Neo pointed at the left wall, then mimicked punching before pointing at the right wall and changing her eye-colour to red. "Ah. I see. So how are they doing?" Weiss asked, taking another small sip.

Again Neo pointed to the left wall, giving a thumbs up. Then she pointed to the right wall and shrugged.

"I see. Well, I think I've had enough sleep." Weiss said, attempting to stand up but she was immediately pushed back by Neo, who then pointed to her forehead and shook her head.

"Neo. I'm fine. It was a small cut, I'm sure I won't die of it." Weiss said, ending with her usual sarcastic tone. But Neo wasn't budging, continuing to stare seriously at Weiss.

Sighing, Weiss gave up and laid back against the bed again. "Fine. I'll wait then. But I will again say that I'm fine."

Neo smiled then before sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs before placing her hands in her lap. Weiss looked over her once or twice, immediately noticing that the bandage on her arm had been redone and the evidence of their fight on Neo being clear with spots of dust and grime on her outfit. Weiss raised her eyebrow curiously before remembering the events before they left the compound.

Neo had kissed her. And now she had been here, obviously keeping watch over her. Weiss sighed inwardly, feeling some form of pity for Neo. Weiss wasn't a romantic person of herself, in fact, when she started at Beacon she'd gained her reputation as Ice queen amongst the boys by repeatedly rejecting them or any offers for dates they'd had. Most especially Jaune, which made her smirk.

Thinking back, Weiss blamed it on the cold reality of her relationships so far. It had only started becoming better after meeting her friends at Beacon. The only person she had a good relationship with was Winter and even that one had been strenuous for the longest time, due to Winter leaving for the military.

But why then had this, _girl,_ kissed her? Just out of the blue? Weiss furrowed her brow as she continued to look at Neo, to possibly decipher the reasons why. Weiss didn't harbor any romantic feelings for Neo, but still appreciated her as a friend.

 _Or do you?_ A thought appeared in her mind. It posed an interesting question. Weiss had never really much spent effort on dating or relationships. But still it seemed odd for her to have an interest in girls. Weiss didn't feel strongly to either gender and the only time she had entertained the notion of dating was when she had seen Neptune. He had been an interesting guy, definitely worthy of her attention.

But again, the thought in her head remained. Weiss sighed to herself. She promised they'd talk about it, and since Neo was keeping her here, it might as well be now.

"Neo, about what happened." Weiss started, making Neo perk up and tilt her head ever so slightly as she looked at Weiss. In a way, Weiss found it adorable.

"Look, I want to tell you first and foremost, that I would call you a friend." Weiss said. For a moment Neo's eyes glimmered with hope.

"However.. That's the extent of our 'relationship'. I think you're trying hard to change, but unfortunately I am not romantically interested in you. Or in anyone right now for that matter." Weiss said, looking Neo straight in the eyes.

Neo stared back for a moment before looking down at her hands. But as she looked up again, she smiled and moved to embrace Weiss. Weiss was surprised by this but returned the embrace. It was only brief, but when Neo sat down, her smile hadn't faded.

"I'm sorry if you were led to believe something else. But I'm glad you understand." Weiss said, returning her smile. Neo waved her hand in the air, dismissing her apology.

It wasn't soon after that the door to the room opened. Winter walked in and quickly made her way to the bed, placing a gentle hand on Weiss's shoulder. "Good to see you're awake. How are you feeling?" Winter asked.

"Well, all things considered, I think I could be feeling much worse." Weiss replied with a neutral tone. "I at least managed the teleport." she continued as she smiled victoriously at her sister.

Winter laughed. Much to Weiss her surprise. "That you did. You've always been quick to pick up the difficult things however." Winter said. "The nurse should be coming soon. She's probably finishing up with Yang and Blake next door. They're okay, but Yang's not really on speaking terms with anyone but Blake right now. I think you'll two want to see and speak to her before she does something she might regret."

Weiss smiled sadly to herself. "I shouldn't worry about it. As long as Blake's still here, she'll remain. She's just angry at what happened. Raven was .. exceptionally cruel to her."

Neo nodded at Weiss in agreement, making devil-horns with her fingers to accentuate her words.

"I see. I can't even begin to imagine what it must've been like. Even in our family." Winter said, leaning against the side of the bed.

Weiss looked down for a moment before looking up to Winter and opening her mouth, but Winter held up her hand. "I tried talking to Father. I told him of your condition. He was infuriated still, or so my little spy said." Winter said, sighing deeply.

"Your little spy?" Weiss asked.

"Let's say, Whitley and I have struck a deal a few years ago. And lately he's been a lot more forthcoming." Winter said, smiling as Winter stood up again. "It's how I kept tabs on you without returning home."

"But, I thought Whitley despised us..?" Weiss asked, looking confused at her sister.

"Well. You see, Whitley despised me for my rash decision to leave for the Atlesian military. He despised you because you were the heiress and never quite cooperative. With you technically out of the picture.." Winter started, seeing the gears turn in Weiss' head.

".. he became heir." Weiss finished. "But he was never prepared for it. He has never been in the public eye regarding the company. You and I were. While father has been able to downplay your actions due to a mutual agreement with the Atlesian military, I don't know how he'll manage what I've done."

Winter shrugged. "Desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll see what the future holds." she said before the door creaked open, revealing the nurse.

"I guess it's time for me to leave. I'll make sure to let you know if anything changes." Winter said and giving Weiss a quick hug before leaving.

Neo looked absolutely puzzled as she looked at the door and back to Weiss.

Weiss smirked a little at Neo. "It's a very long story."

* * *

Qrow kept his arms crossed as he sat in the corner of the room, the machines in the secure room beeping being the only thing breaking the silence. Raven quickly woke with a heavy shake as her senses returned to her, scanning the room before meeting the blood red eyes of her brother and leaning her head back with a chuckle.

"Hadn't expected to be back here so soon, brother dearest." Raven said, breathing in deep.

"The Schnee family continues to have party tricks up their sleeve." Qrow said, a joke to be sure, but his tone wouldn't betray it as one.

"I see." Raven simply replied.

"So, they managed to do it." Qrow said as he leaned forward.

"No." Raven said. "Yang did."

"Does it matter?" Qrow asked.

"Yes."

Qrow sighed to himself. "Do you know why I sent them?"

"Yes. Clever to send my own daughter to fight against me. Unfortunately, you take me to be as emotional as I used to be."

"So?" Qrow asked as he raised an eyebrow curiously.

"I was about to kill them. You'd have sent them to their deaths. How would you explain that to your precious daughter?" Raven spat, peering at Qrow.

"You know just as well as I, that she'd be the one to come for you. And now, you'd suffer the same fate." Qrow remarked dryly.

"Ah, so she finally figured it out?" Raven said, smirking cruelly. "The Maiden's power. Such a cruel gift. What was that comic book Tai used to like again.. Something with a spider. Had a quote in it. 'With great power comes great responsibility.'?".

"She takes after Summer more and more." Qrow said.

"Oh get over it. Stop living in the past. Summer's dead. Coincidentally, I'd like to remind you that it's your fault." Raven stated bluntly.

Qrow peered at her now, breathing in deep to keep down his anger at Raven's words. His sister had always had a cruel side. But this was something else than what he'd gotten used to.

"What, did that sting? Despite your tough appearance, I guess you were always too soft to do what was needed." Raven said casually.

"Like leading one of the most powerful terrorist organisations of our time..?" Qrow said causing Raven to laugh. The laugh had a dark undertone, nearly eerie as Raven looked back down with a smirk on her lips.

"You have no idea what you're talking about. It's almost endearing. All those years as a pawn for Ozpin and you think after viewing everything he had you know what's going on." Raven amusedly said. "You don't even know half of what I was trying to prevent before you sent my daughter and her little friends to get me."

Qrow looked at her puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

Raven smirked cruelly.

"Why, only the downfall of every last standing Kingdom."

* * *

Yang swept away a stray bit of hair from Blake's forehead. Seeing her lying in bed so peacefully made her heart sting. Guilt overtook Yang as she mulled over what happened again. She had let the words of Raven get to her, letting her enemy again get the better of her. Last time, it had cost Yang her arm. This time, it had almost cost her friends and her own life.

Yang took a deep breath as she softly leaned her head on the bed. "I'm so sorry, Blake." Yang whispered as tears slowly fell from her eyes.

Her silent sobbing was interrupted as the handle to the door lowered and Weiss peered into the room through a crack. Yang quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and sat up again. Weiss wasn't fooled however, but decided not to comment. "Hey. Would you like some company? Neo's here as well.".

Yang nodded and Weiss opened the door further, allowing Neo in before closing it as soundlessly as she could. "How is she?" Weiss asked, taking one of the foldable chairs in the room.

"She's fine. Hit her head hard. Probably a concussion." Yang said as her thumb idly ran over Blake's hand.

"What about you?" Weiss asked, looking at Yang. Yang was about to say something dishonest as she turned towards Weiss. But she could see Weiss was staring right through whatever mask she would put on. With a sigh she surrendered to her staring gaze.

"Not so good. I'm angry at myself for letting my mother's words still get to me. Even though it was in a moment of weakness, it almost cost us our lives. I didn't snap out of it until I saw Blake get struck.." Yang said and sighed, glancing at Blake sadly. "And now I feel guilty. Because my mistakes almost cost us everything.".

"Yang. I need you to listen to me carefully." Weiss started, her tone calm. "What happened was not because of you. It happened because we were severely outclassed. We outnumbered her and still she had no trouble with defeating us at first. It's _thanks_ to you that we're still here."

"We had a plan and executed it perfectly. But she shrugged it off. That's not because we are weak. It's because she's _that_ strong." Weiss continued before Yang angrily looked at her.

"And I'm supposed to be that strong as well! All she did was test me. Don't you see? She was specifically targeting me. She wanted to fight _me_. And I got you guys in danger because of it." Yang said, gritting her teeth after.

"No Yang. We all decided to go on this mission. Every one of us. Don't hold yourself accountable for it alone. And we did it because we're friends. Neo came along because she could help, but you can't say she's not become part of us." Weiss said.

Yang shot a look towards Neo, whom friendly waved at her with an earnest smile. Yang could remember what she had taught her. _Let go of my anger, and fight for those I care about._ Yang looked at her hands for a moment. She could still see the imprint where she had shattered her mother's sword before defeating her. In a way, she had thrown away the anger and replaced it with that desire to protect those she cared about. However, to Yang, it had happened much too late.

"You can't protect everyone, Yang. You can only try your best. Like each of us do." Weiss said.

With a sigh, Yang surrendered to Weiss's words. "You're right. But, something broke in me when I saw Blake flying through the air. I felt so powerless." Yang said, squeezing Blake's hand softly to again reassure herself that Blake was fine and here.

"Yang, I know that after.. Beacon, things were hard for you. But don't let that continue to shape you. You're so much more than that anger and regret." Weiss said with Neo nodding alongside her.

"I know. But every time I even think about losing Blake again, I just feel sick. I can't even begin to fathom it." Yang said sighing deeply and looked down at her hands.

Neo smiled to herself before leaning over and tapping Yang on the shoulder, making both Yang and Weiss give her a confused look. Neo then pointed at Blake whom slowly opened her eyes.

"Could you guys keep it down..?" Blake hoarsely said, her voice barely above a whisper. "I feel like my head might explode.".

Immediately Yang dove for her and embraced her, kissing the top of her head for a long moment. Blake weakly wrapped her arm around Yang to return the embrace before tapping her gently to let go.

"That was one hell of a confession, Yang." Blake weakly joked, smiling sadly at her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry. I should've told y-" Yang started but Blake just put her finger to Yang's lips.

"Later. I think right now I'd like something to stop the pounding in my head." Blake said with a smile.

* * *

Ruby checked her scroll, still waiting on a message as she and Jaune walked up to Beacon. "Freaking.." Ruby sighed, breathing in deeply to calm herself down again.

"Still no reply?" Jaune said as he put his arms behind his head as they stopped at the fountain.

"No. Nothing. I'll just go to his office then, see if he's there." Ruby said. "Meet up after? I'll message you when."

"Of course." Jaune said and smiled before leaning down and kissing Ruby passionately.

Ruby had to stop herself from escalating the kiss as she remembered where they were. She broke the kiss and smiled back at him. "I'll see you later, 'vomit-boy' " Ruby joked before walking away.

"Oh come on, really?! What did my sisters _do_ to you?" Jaune yelled after her, only making Ruby laugh more as she stepped into the large main hall of Beacon.

Ruby had felt strange as she walked through the halls since her and Jaune had returned. Students would often stare wide-eyed as she passed or murmur among themselves. Sometimes, one or two students would muster up the courage to directly ask her a question. Ruby never felt like the questions were a nuisance. In her mind, she felt honoured that they looked up to her in that way.

She stepped into the elevator and pressed the button to go up to Qrow's office, waiting anxiously as she ascended. Secretly Ruby hoped Qrow wasn't there, so she could formulate what to say to him. But she knew she would have to confront him. It was part of becoming in balance, as Phare had put it.

With a 'ding', Ruby arrived at Qrow's office, revealing him standing over his desk with all sorts of maps, scrolls and texts displayed on the holographic screens and the desk itself. With a sigh, he put down his mug and closed all the screens to look at his daughter.

"You could've at least answered me." Ruby said, furrowing her brow.

"Sorry. Something came up before I was able to react. I agree that we have to talk." Qrow said. Ruby opened her mouth to speak again but Qrow quickly put up his hand. "Full disclosure, the reason why is because late last night, Weiss, Yang, Blake and Neo returned from their mission. With Raven."

Ruby stared wide-eyed at Qrow. "Are they okay?".

"Relatively. I felt like Yang was about to kill me, but they're all alive, if that's what you're asking." Qrow said, sitting down onto his office chair.

"And Raven?" Ruby asked, as she took a seat as well.

"Batshit crazy." Qrow mockingly said. "It's the reason why I haven't slept and all this stuff is scattered over my desk."

"Why, what did she say then?" Ruby continued to ask.

Qrow smirked at Ruby. "That every last Kingdom was going to fall because we took her captive.".

Ruby furrowed her brow at his words. "That seems a bit ridiculous of a statement. But you're taking it seriously."

"Because I've learned that even though she has an unique view on the world, she tries to do what's best. And if she says that because of her captivity hell is going to break loose, I'm inclined to believe her." Qrow said. "Tai would also believe her. And I think he'd share my opinion of her being crazy."

"And Summer?" Ruby asked, a lump in her throat.

Qrow smiled sadly as he looked down at the desk.

"Summer would scold both me and Tai for thinking that about Raven and try to figure out why Raven would say that." Qrow said. "Then she'd do whatever she could to make sure we'd never let it happen."

A moment of silence passed between them before Qrow cleared his throat.

"Ruby. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you much. Even now, it feels odd to call you my.. daughter. Because I feel I don't deserve to. But know that I've always been trying to be there for you when I could." Qrow said, showing a surprising amount of caring for her.

"I know. It's still strange for me to consider you my father as well. I was so angry at you when I left." Ruby said, sighing as she looked at the ceiling.

"You had every reason to however."

"I know. But I only saw it from my own way. What it was like for me." Ruby said. "I realize that now. You too had to stay away from me. I still don't agree with it, but I know why you did it. You did it to protect me."

"I'm just still stuck with that one annoying question.. Why?" Ruby said.

"Summer was the last remnant of team STRQ. When Summer died, we fell apart. Tai got depressed. As did I, but I drowned my sorrows away. Raven had already been gone. But when the news struck, she sought me out." Qrow started as he finished the last of his coffee.

"Raven blamed me. She had gone to Ozpin who had explained her what had happened. And she laid into me relentlessly. And she was right about all of it. I could not in good conscience be your father when I'd failed to even protect the one woman I had loved."

Ruby's eyes had started tearing up as the memories of her childhood returned.

"So. I decided to stay on the sidelines. I watched you from afar. I was ashamed of what I had become, so I tried to make my visits little. Only on good days would I meet with Taiyang to see if I could see you and Yang. The rest of the days? I was fighting, drinking or doing both." Qrow finished.

"So.. what about Winter then? If you loved Summer so much, then why did you marry her?" Ruby asked as her tears slowly fell.

"Because Summer would've wanted us all to be happy. Winter and I spent the first few years stuck together here. Equally frustrated about the situation. But slowly we shared our demons and learned to live with them by sharing them. It doesn't matter that we're quite some years apart. Our love isn't like the love I had with Summer." Qrow said as he stood up and leaned against the large window.

"Then what was the love you had for my mother like?" Ruby asked as she wiped away her tears futilely.

Qrow closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

"It's hard to put it into words. What your mother did, was to always try and get the best out of everyone close to her. I had so much admiration for her for that because even a losing battle she would turn into something we could overcome. She showed compassion to anyone and everyone, to a fault." Qrow started. "When we were alone, that didn't stop. I think.. part of the reason why I was so ashamed after her death, was because I can say she has made me who I am. And what I had become after her death was so far from that, I felt like I disappointed her and in turn myself.".

Ruby put her hand over her mouth as her tears truly started, flowing freely over her cheeks.

"Ruby. If there's one thing I know about Summer, it's that she would be proud of who you are today. I say that, because I am too." Qrow said before smiling. "Throughout your childhood I saw you turn into this determined little girl that was sure she would change the world with compassion and kindness. And when you came back from Atlas to Vale, I could only smile to myself as I saw that little girl had grown into a woman and opened the doors to do what she wanted."

Ruby stood from the chair and ran before embracing Qrow tightly, feeling much like the little girl he had described again as sobbed heavily into him. Qrow returned the embrace, softly petting Ruby's head as the tough scythe master's own eyes started to water.

" I wish I could have given you more, and I'm sure Summer does too. But in a way, you have exceeded even what Summer would've hoped for you. And don't forget for a moment that she loves you, as do I."


	25. Chapter 25: Ending a Chapter

**Gosh darnit I was ready to upload this before Fanfiction decided now was a perfect time to freak the hell out. Anyways, I'm back!**

 **I want to thank you guys again for reading. It's been really inspiring for me to see new reviews, new followers and new favorites. I'm also glad that I'm working on NaNoWriMo because it's an excellent motivator for continuing on the pace that I am right now. The progress within the story itself is now finally at a point where I want to be and it's far from over.**

 **Anyways, I kept you guys long enough. Enjoy Chapter 25: Ending a Chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 25: Ending a Chapter

Silence hung in the air as Ruby and Qrow still embraced each other. Within herself, Ruby felt something stir. It was as if a great burden was lifted from her, mentally and physically and she was finally able to breathe freely.

"You okay there, kiddo?" Qrow asked as he continued to slowly stroke Ruby's hair, in his mind, like a father would.

With a heavy sigh, Ruby let go of Qrow. "Yeah. I think I was too shocked about it at first and now finally accept it, truly." she said, wiping away the leftover tears on her cheeks and smiling at Qrow.

"I'd still like to know what happened that you two decided to break up.." Ruby said.

Qrow let out a sigh and a chuckle. "I was stupid, that's what. After Raven had left, Summer helped out Tai a lot since he was alone with Yang. We never really truly said we were together so we were kind of more like lovers. But we knew we loved each other." Qrow said, scratching his beard in thought. "In the end, we grew apart as Tai and Summer grew closer because I was away a lot. I got jealous and I overreacted. When I tried to stop her from going on 'the mission', she wouldn't listen to me."

"What.. exactly was she supposed to do on that mission?" Ruby asked. This time.. She didn't really feel the sadness over the loss of her mother anymore. She just wanted to know the truth, what really happened.

"The only thing Ozpin gave us, was a 'grave danger'." Qrow said. "And I know when Ozpin uses those words, he has no idea what it is. But he knows that if it isn't dealt with, all of Vale could be eradicated."

"I tried to warn Summer at first. She was approached by 'them'. I still have no clear clue of who they are, but Cinder was certainly working for them. She tried to bargain." Qrow said with a sigh as he clenched his fist. "They knew of you and Yang. So she told me she wanted to trade her own life for the safety of her children."

Ruby's chest tightened as Qrow spoke, but again the feeling within her pulsed, giving her an odd sense of comfort. "So she sacrificed herself for us..?"

"Yup." Qrow said. "Listen Ruby.. when they tried to kill your mother.. They did the same thing as Cinder had done. I haven't told you this before but, whoever they are, they know how to extract the maiden's souls. It's how Cinder became the Fall maiden."

Ruby breathed in deep as she looked at Qrow.

"And I'm going to be completely honest with you. They're hunting you too." Qrow said, as he looked serious at Ruby. "They're hunting the Maiden's souls. I don't know why, but it's not good. It's the second reason why I requested you and Jaune go to Mistral. To try and hide, but also prepare you for what is inevitably going to come."

"But how can I prepare for an enemy I don't even know about?" Ruby asked, looking slightly confused at her father.

"Simple." Qrow said, smiling.

"You learn to improvise."

* * *

After speaking with Qrow, whom she could now call her father more earnestly, Ruby made her way to the infirmary. On her way to Blake's room, where the nurse had said Weiss, Yang, Neo and Blake were, she walked past Raven's room. Something in her compelled her to stop.

She looked at the door, it was the same thick heavy wooden door most of the school used, but this one was locked with an extra measure, a keycard slot and number pad. Ruby looked around, checking if someone was coming before flipping open the pad on her arm.

"Salutations, friend Ruby!" Penny said, giving a salute and a large smile.

"Hey Penny. How's everything at Atlas?" Ruby asked, realizing she hadn't seen her friend in a while.

"Wonderful! I've been doing surveillance on important areas around Remnant, so I've had a little bit of time to myself. I was able to uncover a little bit of information regarding a note on your profile, something called 'project Valkyries'. General Ironwood doesn't know, so please don't tell him." Penny said, whispering her last few words.

Ruby smiled. "I'll have a look at it later. Could you help me out? I want to get in this room."

Penny looked at the door, then back at Ruby. "I'm not supposed to break protocol, Ruby. And breaching the Beacon defense system is a breach."

"I'll own up to it, if we're found out. Don't worry. It's just, very important I get in." Ruby pleaded, showing Penny mock puppy eyes.

"Oh, all right!" Penny said as the lock flashed white a few times before turning to a solid green. "I was undetected, but get in quick because it'll lock by itself again."

"Thanks Penny." Ruby said before closing the pad again and entering the room. Only the lights above the bed were on and the blinds were shut, leaving the largest part of the room shrouded in darkness.

Ruby felt Crescent Rose being touched before her sword was put to her neck forcefully as she was held against a wall.

"Don't try anything and listen to me." Raven whispered in Ruby's ear. "If you do decide to do anything, I will cut your throat. Understood? Nod if you understand."

Ruby slowly nodded, careful to let the blade not nick her neck.

"Good. Now I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen to me. You will not say a single word, you're going to sit down and listen to me. Nod if you understand." Raven demanded again.

Ruby nodded again.

"I'm going to let you go at three. If you pull your weapon, what I said before applies again. I will cut your throat. Nod if you understand."

Ruby nodded. "Good. Now.. one.. two.. " Raven started before letting go of Ruby, holding the sword up to her still. Ruby slowly turned towards Raven. The image Ruby had of Raven was wildly different to what she looked like. To Ruby, she looked more like Yang, but with black hair (and longer due to Adam's doing).

"Sit. And I remind you to shut up." Raven said before walking over to the bed again to lean on it. Ruby hesitantly sat down in the corner of the room on the same chair Qrow had used.

"I'm going to preface a few things to you. One, I'm not going to escape. I'm here now, the damage is done. Two, I have no intention to hurt anyone here unless I have to. Three, and listen closely because this is the most important one of them all." Raven said, "You are the only thing standing between the survival or death of Remnant.

Ruby looked confused at Raven before opening her mouth, causing Raven to immediately hold the sword up to Ruby again. "No words. Listen. I don't need your drama or bullshit."

Ruby closed her mouth again and Raven laid the sword down. "You'll get this back later. I just need you to be a bit more complacent. Knowing Qrow trained you, I'm also not very keen on dueling you while I don't have my weapon and you still have yours." Raven said.

"I do have to say, you look exactly like Summer. Tai gave you that cape, probably. Always a tad too sentimental. Reflects in Yang." Raven idly remarked before clearing her throat. "I'm going to explain you completely what is going on in the world right now, and what is going to happen."

"Your friend, the Schnee heiress, she has taken some very sensitive plans. Plans I intentionally left out in the open. Those documents are strike areas. What that means is that they're carefully planned blueprints to completely destroy the defenses of each kingdom." Raven said, twirling Ruby's sword around idly.

"And those aren't the only copies. In fact, these plans have been worked on for years. Vale was first to fall in order to capture the Fall Maiden. In the end, it ended with Cinder being more of a burden than an asset. She was too weakened by whatever the hell you did to her."

Ruby furrowed her brow as she looked at Raven.

"Now you're probably wondering, how do I know Cinder? Well, it turns out who I worked for found everything to be going too slow. So she sent Cinder. When Cinder failed miserably in taking out Beacon for good, it reinforced their trust in me. Slowly, I was trying to figure out a way to defeat her." Raven said, before looking at Ruby with a smug grin. "And now you're wondering who she is. And she is the end of Remnant. Also the one that killed your mother."

Ruby breathed in deeply as Raven cruelly laughed.

"Summer always was a bit naive. I figured it would be her downfall in the end. All that power, wasted. But you're not Summer, are you? No, you're much more clever. Stronger. Determined." Raven mocked. "For all our sakes, I hope whatever Qrow thinks is true."

Ruby angrily peered at Raven as she balled her fist angrily in her cloak.

"But you can't defeat her. Not alone. But if you're even half the person Summer was, then you'll have no problem doing what needs to be done." Raven said, combing her hand through her hair. "You have to unite the Kingdoms. Only then will there be a fighting chance that we can defeat her. They've lost one of their largest assets, the Maiden of Fall. But at the same time, they're getting ever closer to the Maiden of Winter and the Maiden of Spring. You will also need to find them as you collect all the allies you can get."

Ruby continued to stare into the eyes of Raven, but her expression had changed from anger to determination. Ruby again didn't feel fear or anxiety at the prospect. Raven gave her a lopsided smirk as response.

"Weiss also has document which holds the names of those close to her alongside descriptions. Her lieutenants if you will. I never spoke to her directly as I never got too high in the hierarchy because of my connection to Qrow. But she has all the information you could possibly need. The White Fang is out of my control." Raven said. "And that's all I have to say to you. Now get out of here."

Raven flipped the sword around and held the handle towards Ruby, whom took it and slid it back into Crescent Rose. Ruby opened the pad on her arm again and unlocked the door before turning as Raven laid back down in the bed.

"Why did you tell me all of this?" Ruby asked, looking confused at Raven.

"Because I owe Summer, and as I said, you're probably the last hope for this world." Raven said as she crossed her hands behind her head and laid back down. "Now get lost."

Ruby looked at her for a moment before closing the door and making her way down the hallway towards her friends' room.

Raven used the silence to calm herself down. Well Summer, that's one favor down. Let's hope she'll be ready.

* * *

Afterwards, Ruby had texted Jaune before moving on. The both of them went to join Weiss, Yang, Blake and Neo. Ruby was glad to find them all okay, albeit a bit shaken up. But she felt a little more anxious as she shared what Raven had told her.

"So.. What now?" Yang asked, looking concerned at Ruby.

"Well, considering she threatened me to tell me that and Qrow's been working through the night to figure out what she's been talking about, I'm fairly certain she's serious." Ruby said.

Weiss was putting all the intel they had gotten from the base on the bed and quickly analyzed and sorted them. "Did Raven say anything about when the attacks would take place?" Weiss asked as she briefly glanced at Ruby before continuing to scour them for any information.

"Nope. Nothing." Ruby replied, sighing heavily.

"Let's just calm down. For all we know, they're just a distraction. I believe you Ruby, but Raven still isn't someone who we should blindly trust. It could all be a hoax." Blake said.

"Blake has a point. However, we should be ready in case there's an attack. I'll send some pictures to all of your scrolls so we at least have some information in case there's an attack." Weiss said as she opened her scroll to take photos of the different maps.

"So.. how are you doing now Ruby?" Yang asked as she looked with concern at her 'little sister'.

"I'm fine. I talked with Qrow before I went here." Ruby said with a small smile. "It's strange and I can't quite explain it. But I think that I can honestly call him my father now. In a sense.".

Yang stared at her with wide eyes. "Qrow..? Really?"

"I asked him for the truth. And that's what he gave me. He regrets a lot of what he's done and isn't proud of it. But he's trying to better himself. Winter, especially, has been helpful with that. So I guess I also have to thank your sister." Ruby said as she smiled at Weiss.

"Well, Winter has also changed a lot. She's opened up more, a bit like how I did when I started hanging around with you guys. I do have to agree that at first I thought Qrow was a scoundrel but my sister does seem to better him." Weiss said as she finished taking the pictures, putting the maps on a neat stack again before rolling them all up.

"So.. what about Raven, Yang?" Ruby asked as she returned a compassionate smile.

Yang looked down at her hands again. "I don't think I will be able to reconcile with her. After everything she's done to me, everything she's said to me.. I think I'll be far happier not caring. I've still got you and Dad as family and that's enough for me. Besides, I've found her. I can finally end that chapter of my life. I wish I could've finished it in a better way." Yang said.

Jaune chuckled before the five girls looked at him with confused expressions. "Oh. Sorry. I just heard the words of Ren ring in the back of my mind, when we went to the market to pick up groceries and Nemory came along with us, Ruby. We were looking at their little 'mini-me' as Nora put it and Ren told me the story of their return to Vale."

Weiss perked up before looking even more baffled. "Wait, Ren and Nora have a child?"

Neo subtly shushed Weiss before looking at Jaune again.

"I was struggling with the ending of a chapter to my story as well when we came back to Vale. And I shared that with him. We talked and he told me about what happened with him and Nora. But then he gave me the best advice I could've gotten." Jaune said.

"That whatever happens and whatever has happened, you have to keep moving forward."

* * *

After discussing the information of Raven with their friends, Ruby and Jaune had decided to share it with Qrow and Ironwood. The both of them had been surprised and Qrow had later tried to visit Raven again, but Raven had held her tongue for the most part. Ironwood had taken the words seriously and requested Ruby to focus on her own safety as well.

Unfortunately, Ruby and Jaune's time in Vale had once again come to an end. They had decided to take another night-flight back to Mistral, to make sure Ruby could continue her training on time.

As the flight would still take a while and Jaune was sleeping, Ruby decided to check out the information Penny had dug up. Most of it was pretty normal. Profile on her history, psychology and health. Some minor details, like Jaune and her relationship had been added, but nonetheless her record was pretty normal. Ruby tapped on the assigned projects and saw the specialist and Atlas-Vale program listed under it. Curiously, she tapped on the Atlas-Vale program to reveal a plethora of documents and made up news stories about them.

Ruby sighed to herself as she put it away again before opening the hidden project, 'Valkyries'. There was a small flash on her scroll before a lot of the usual secret terminal code came up before revealing the folder with a few documents inside. Every file was coded with an element, Fire, Water, Earth and Wind. Ruby tapped on the Fire document to reveal pictures of a girl unknown to her before switching over to pictures of Cinder. Mentally, she made the connection. These are the files on the Maidens. Let's see what Atlas knows.

She returned to the root of the folder clicking instead on Water. Vague hints and blurry pictures faced her, a white-haired girl with a staff being in most of them. One of the pictures was an aerial picture of a large piece of forest struck by ice. Ruby guessed it must've been at least two miles big. At the end of the page, there was a note. Extremely dangerous, avoid if at all possible. Non-cooperative. Last known location - Atop Mount Lyht. Ruby mentally said to herself as she read. To her, actually living atop the mountain near Atlas was impossible. But then again, she had no clue to which extent that girl's powers actually were. Or to what extent her own powers went.

She returned again to the main folder, this time going to the Earth file. Ruby guessed this was the Spring Maiden and within the first few pictures she was proven right. These weren't as bad as the Winter Maiden and mainly focused on rows of brightly colored flowers. There were only sightings of the effects of the Spring maiden's power and those seemed to be mostly tame. The 'largest' offense was a wall that had heavy stone spikes protruding from it. But they in turn had grown flowers as well.

Finally, Ruby checked out the Wind file. She wasn't surprised as she found a link to her profile, but there were also older pictures. Pictures of her mother. Ruby looked confused at them before scrolling through the file. There were some old pictures of Summer, more specifically using her powers. There were a few notes at the bottom again. Manifestation incomplete. Problem most likely psychological. Recommend confrontation with trauma. Ruby looked at the words. She didn't feel angry, however it stinged to see the words. Sighing to herself, she was glad that there had been a lot of positive things about coming back to Vale however.

Yawning, she put her head to Jaune's shoulder. But a noise caught her attention before the airship shook. Again Ruby heard the dulled sound before the airship shook. She tapped Jaune on the shoulder as she stood up. "Wake up. Something's wrong." Ruby said, grabbing Crescent Rose and holding it in her right hand as she moved towards the cockpit.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked as she stepped into the cockpit.

"I don't know. There were some explosions. Probably some fireworks of some kind." the pilot said, seemingly calm. "I'm sure it's no-"

The pilot's words were silenced as the night sky lit up as the CCT Tower exploded. Ruby's eyes grew wide as more and more explosions came into view. When the shockwave of the explosions hit the airship, the pilot could no longer hold it as they started to twirl around. Ruby felt the stirring within her again and this time embraced the feeling. Using her semblance, she scattered into countless petals and quickly she grabbed the pilot and Jaune, making her way out of the airship before quickly descending to the ground.

Jaune was ready now as they landed and looked at Ruby. "What happened?"

Ruby stared back at Jaune, swallowing the lump in her throat as she realized what was happening.

"Mistral is under attack." Ruby said.


	26. Chapter 26: Fire and Brimstone

**Stupid FF net and my internet connection. Sorry, I'm having a little bit of trouble with my home network (My ISP knows of it and they're working on it. but yeah) so my internet's pretty spotty. Nevermind that I have been a bit tired lately. Nevertheless, I present you Chapter 26: Fire and Brimstone.**

 **Pre-upload edit: HOLY SHIT. 300 FOLLOWERS. THANK YOU GUYS!**

* * *

Chapter 26: Fire and Brimstone

Ruby's mind was racing a million miles an hour as she used her semblance freely, the power in her fueling her aura. Everytime she grabbed someone from a burning house, she felt herself mentally wear down. The explosion of the CCT had only been the start of Mistral's trouble. Without communications there was no possible coordination for the hunters in the area. Grimm flood the streets and many more explosions continued to go off. As Ruby removed another family from their broken down house, she stumbled out to the middle of the street, looking up into the sky.

For the first time, Ruby felt the slightest hint of despair. The sky itself was shrouded by the darkness of countless Nevermore and Griffons. But what approached terrified her even more. Dragons. Three of them. _They're going to annihilate everyone here._ Ruby mentally said to herself as she stared wide eyed at the incoming foes.

Slowly she looked downwards again. Countless Grimm had already fallen, but it wasn't without casualties on 'their' side as well. Many hunters laid dead or dying in the streets.

Ruby felt a rough shake on her shoulder and focussed again. "Ruby, we need to hold off those Dragons to get more of the people evacuated." Jaune said, looking at her with slight concern before turning around and aiming his weapon at the incoming enemy.

"No." Ruby softly said as she stepped forward, past Jaune. She put her hand on his weapon and slowly turned it downwards to the ground. Again, she felt the power within her stir. Slowly, her terror and despair ebbed away and she focussed on it, closing her eyes.

There was a pulse within her. Mentally, she reached out to it. It felt warm to the touch and it slowly enveloped her as Ruby felt the warmth continue to surge through her. She took a deep breath before opening her eyes again, holding Crescent Rose ready.

"Jaune. You continue the evacuation. I'll take care of them." Ruby said calmly.

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked as he hesitantly shifted the weapon to its sword form again.

Ruby looked at him and smiled before giving him a soft kiss on the lips. "Just trust me."

Jaune nodded at her before running towards another Grimm filled street.

With immense force, Ruby took off into the air. The Nevermores and Griffons advanced to her, but with a few slices they faded into nothingness quickly. Their deaths only rallied more of them and Ruby switched Crescent Rose to its spear-like form. A surge of power went through her again before she kicked off an attacking Gryphon. Too fast for the eye to see, she dashed from aerial enemy to aerial enemy, slaying them without effort. Each slain foe made her glow more and more, every pulse of power within her only increasing as she slayed them by the hundreds by now.

Soon, the skies opened up from the Grimm-filled darkness, a sharp white light dashing quickly in the night sky. Ruby finished one of the last Nevermores before focussing on her real target. She narrowed her gaze at the middle of the three dragons and waiting as she carefully aimed, her scythe still embedded in the Nevermore's body as they descended from the sky.

 _Wait for it.. Wait for it.._ Ruby repeated in her mind, before firing and using her semblance, a large white and red trail of petals soaring through the sky at incredible speed. Ruby dodged the waiting maw of the Dragon and used her momentum to carry her over it before materializing again and slicing the Dragon's wing clean off. With a roar of pain and terror, it fell from the sky, futilely trying to grab onto Ruby in any way it could. Ruby fired upwards as she jumped away from the Dragon on top of the second one. Quickly she struck down Crescent Rose, bringing herself to a halt atop the Dragon as it embedded in the tough scales of the monstrosity.

In the area Ruby had ruptured from stopping herself, ooze began to flow out. Slowly the ooze formed to Beowolves which took no time before engaging on Ruby. Deftly she dodged them, hooking Crescent Rose around their heads before firing, decapitating or puncturing them with ease.

However, the third Dragon took her by surprise as it swooped down to snap it's massive extended jaw at Ruby. Quickly she was able to turn Crescent Rose from its scythe form to its spear form, holding the jaw open as far as she could to buy herself time. Quickly she removed the sword from it's socket and breathing in deep. Ruby surveyed where the dragon was flying and hoped that it was far enough from the city as she formulated her plan. Using her semblance to escape, she materialized the moment she escaped the jaw and cut at the Dragon's right side eyes. Another roar of despair came as the Dragon tumbled down towards the ground, with Ruby holding on as she imbedded Crescent Rose in its scales.

Ruby rolled over the ground as the both of them hit it, holding the sword in her left hand with Crescent Rose in her right as she started her assault on the Dragon's head. Weakly it tried to swipe at her, but it was too slow due to its damaged eyes and hard hit with the ground. Every strike the Dragon attempted was sidestepped or completely deflected by the sheer amount of aura Ruby now wielded. It didn't take long for the Dragon to succumb to the large amount of deep cuts Ruby had given it and weakly it tried for one last swipe which Ruby had no trouble with sidestepping. Sweat, dirt and grime had coated Ruby and her cloak now, but the power within her pulsed still.

Finally the last Dragon landed, roaring loudly at her as it struck. Ruby attempted to deflect the blow, but this time it failed as she was flung away roughly. Ruby grit her teeth as she landed and felt a large amount of the pain she had endured fighting the other Dragon.

 _Come on. You've beaten the odds already and killed two of these beasts._ Ruby spoke to herself mentally as she stared defiantly at the approaching Dragon. _You are the Summer Maiden. You_ have _to protect the people of Mistral._

The Dragon roared as it attempted to bite her, but Ruby tapped more and more into her Maiden Powers. With a slash, she launched a sharp slice of wind towards the Dragon, cutting deep into its scales. Breathing in, Ruby focussed more and more on the ability, improving her speed as she continued sending strikes towards the Dragon. It slowly backed up until the assault became unbearable to it. It roared in pain and anger before attempted to snap at Ruby again. Ruby roared as she quickly struck its head to the side before sidestepping and putting all her energy in one final strike. The Dragon looked at her with fear as Ruby slashed downwards, cutting the Dragon's head clean off.

Panting, Ruby fell to her knees. The fight had taken much from her, but she had taken down the three Dragons and cleared the skies. Slowly she used Crescent Rose to stand up straight again, taking a deep breath before using her semblance and making her way back to the city, immediately joining the fight again.

* * *

Weiss her phone buzzed in alarm, waking her up. Sleepily, she reached for it and opened it. Winter had messaged her.

 _Come to Beacon immediately._

Weiss raised an eyebrow at the curious message before quickly getting herself ready and hooking Myrtenaster to her belt. Within a short walk, she was at Beacon. The grounds were silent as Weiss continued to walk to towards the main tower, past the monument for Pyrrha.

As she ascended to the top floor, Weiss could feel the tension in the air rising. When all of the professors of the school (including what seemed to be Ren, which Weiss found interesting) were gathered along with Yang, Blake and Neo, Weiss knew something had happened.

"What happened?" Weiss asked before she saw the images being projected. "Where..?"

"Mistral. Unconfirmed reports say it's a White Fang attack." Qrow said as he stared at it. "I'll make a call for all active Beacon assigned teams to make their way there to aid Mistral in their defense. Ironwood, do you copy?"

"Copy. Atlas will send two of our defender frigates with medical personnel. If this attack is on the same scale as ten years ago…" Ironwood said, the audio slightly distorted because of the lack of another CCT.

"I'm afraid that this attack is on a much larger scale." Raven said, standing in a corner with her arms crossed. Immediately the gathering drew their weapons in response, their prisoner having escaped. "Oh relax. If I was going to hurt or kill anyone here I would've done so already. You hadn't even noticed I got here."

"Then I hope you're here to be useful, _sister_." Qrow said as he mulled over the imagery.

"As a matter of fact, I am." Raven replied smugly.

"Wait, hold up. Aren't Ruby and Jaune in Mistral?" Weiss asked. Qrow idly flipped a small vague video to a corner for all to see.

"Yes. They are." Qrow said. In the video, the white light zipped quickly from place to place in the sky as countless of Grimm fell out of the sky.

"Is that.. Ruby?" Blake asked, surprised.

The footage was shaky, but they saw the three Dragons approach and with one swift strike of white one already fell from the sky, scattering debris before the video cut out.

"It's safe to say that now we're going to have to acknowledge to the world that the Maidens exist. And Ruby is one of them." Qrow said before closing the images and videos again.

"Raven, what do you know of this attack?" Winter asked, peering at the dangerous woman.

"As much as your dear little sister knows. Maybe you should ask her. You know exactly what's happened and where it has happened. And it will continue to happen with every city that has a map." Raven said. "And all we can do is try and react. Because it's all in the hands of the aforementioned Maiden now. However, there is one reason why I'm here."

"Do tell what it is." Weiss sighed to herself in annoyance. This wasn't a time for games. People were dying.

"I can take four of you there. Since you four worked pretty well in capturing me and Ruby and Jaune are about to face a foe even greater than me and Cinder combined, it might be a good idea to send you as reinforcements." Raven said as she locked her weapon to a blood red blade.

"What reason do we have to trust you?" Yang asked, peering at her mother.

Raven tutted at her before speaking again. "Oh Yang. You don't. Except that if you don't trust me, the chance that Mistral will be completely wiped of the map is a 100%. And that includes Jaune and Ruby."

Weiss shot a look at Winter, who hesitantly nodded at her. "Then what are waiting for? If they need help, we should give it." Weiss said.

"Finally, some reason." Raven said before slashing into the air, creating a portal. "Now hop on in. The world's only ending."

* * *

With a heavy slash, Jaune cleared the street from debris. "Go! Quickly!" Jaune yelled at the citizens.

Within moments, a Goliath Grimm charged at the people escaping. Jaune held his breath as he quickly ran, slamming his shield into the side of the creature's face with all his strength. It roared in fury, the shrill sound painful to Jaune. But Jaune wasn't staggered by the Grimm, instead going on the offensive with heavy strikes. He could remember Pyrrha's words.

 _Alright Jaune, just like we practiced, follow these instructions._

Jaune breathed in deep.

 _Shield up._

Jaune held up the large kiteshield, peering over it at his enemy.

 _Keep your grip tight._

Jaune gripped his weapon and shield tightly as he stared at the raging Goliath.

 _Don't forget to keep your front foot forward!_

He slid his foot a little more forward, taking a good stance as the Goliath calmed down and seemed to notice his target again, preparing to charge.

 _Go!_

As the Goliath charged, Jaune struck with a yell as he channeled his aura into the strike and delivered a heavy blow on the mask of the Goliath, cracking it further.

 _Again!_

Again Jaune struck, cracking even more of the mask with a sickening blow.

 _And again!_

Jaune struck one final time, putting all of his might into the strike and obliterating the Grimm's mask, letting it slowly fade away into nothingness as it was defeating.

 _Okay. Assuming you aren't cheating, we can take a break._

Jaune smiled to himself. _No need._ He thought, before rushing back into the burning city of Mistral.

* * *

Yang held her breath as she looked over the burning ruins of the city.

"It's like Beacon all over again…" she breathlessly said before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"No. It's not. We're a lot stronger now." Blake said, gripping her shoulder reassuringly.

"Alright Ladies. We're here to do one thing and one thing only. We have to stop Tyrian." Raven said, closing the portal. "Let me preface this with the fact that I am not your ally. But if Tyrian lives this day, let's say my own demise isn't far away. So we have a mutual interest in defeating him, or better yet, killing him.".

"Who's this Tyrian?" Weiss quickly asked as she revolved the chamber of Myrtenaster. In truth, she truly felt for the people of Mistral. However, Weiss knew that she had to taken Raven seriously and in turn had no time to help most of the people.

"One of _her_ lieutenants. This was his strike location. And seeing by the destruction and chaos, this is definitely his work. Nevermind that he's probably more after Ruby than he is after the destruction of Mistral." Raven said as she jumped away. "Find Ruby and Jaune, I'll scout ahead for Tyrian."

"Wait, how do we know if we've found him?" Blake yelled after Raven.

"Oh, _You'll know_." Raven yelled back before rapidly making her way over the smoldering ruins of the city.

"So, split up in pairs of two to find Jaune and Ruby?" Weiss suggested with the other three nodding to her. "Okay. Let's team up then. Yang, Blake, you go find Ruby, we'll go find Jaune. We've got local communication so if you need help, just send out a ping."

"Gotcha. Come on Yang, let's go." Blake said before making their way down to the ground, towards the large slashes of wind striking down Nevermores and Griffons.

"Right, Neo. Let's go. I think Jaune might be holding a defense somewhere." Weiss said. Neo nodded to her as they dropped down into the streets and followed the trail of destruction by the Grimm.

* * *

Ruby didn't feel herself tire in the least as she continued to fight in a trance. Power surged through her like it was part of her blood as each kill reinvigorated her. Even the larger ground-based Grimm weren't proving much of a challenge to her.

However, Ruby did feel exhaustion. Because the flow of Grimm was unending. For every Grimm she killed, more appeared. And then there were the dead.

During the attack on Beacon, many people were able to be saved because of the Atlesian ships. But now, the people had nowhere to go. But Ruby could see all of them. Families. Children. Hunters. Huntresses. The Grimm didn't care about what they killed, just that they killed.

Ruby felt anger bubble up from the injustice and harnessed it to strike even faster and harder, releasing her frustration by striking even harder, cleaving multiple Grimm in half with just one slash. The occasional attack would come through her defense due to her increasing sloppiness, but it would matter little to Ruby. As Ruby darted down to the ground below her again to strike at an Ursa, she was parried and flung away.

Ruby took a deep breath before switching Crescent Rose around, hooking it into the head of a Creep and using the momentum of her swing to accelerate herself as she returned in a circle towards the Ursa, completely obliterating both the Creep and the Ursa. Ruby used her semblance and began to use her Maiden's soul to increase her speed as she created whirl of slicing wind and striking at the Grimm sucked inside.

Ruby stood as the tornado dissipated, reloading Crescent Rose with more gravity rounds.

"Ruby!" she heard a voice call out to, turning around to see Yang and Blake run to her. In the same moment, her heart soared and sunk.

"Yang..? Blake..?" Ruby asked.

"Raven brought us here. Look, the guy that's attacking Mistral, he's bad news. And now he's hunting you." Blake said.

Ruby looked down at her feet. "I know."

".. Wait, you knew?" Yang asked.

"Yes. Qrow already told me I'd be hunted. I figured that if they attacked Mistral first, there's something more to it for them than just the downfall of the kingdom." Ruby said.

"So now what, Ruby? We have to stop him." Yang continued.

Ruby looked back at Yang with what looked like fear in her eyes. "No. I'll fight him alone."

"Ruby.. what are you saying? That's impossible. It took us four people to take Raven down and even that was a crapshoot." Blake said, her tone annoyed.

"I just don't want anyone else hurt. I'm supposed to protect the people." Ruby said as she gestured around her, most of the city aflame. "Even when I try my best, I can't save them. I can't save you."

"Ruby. What happened here isn't your fault. You can't save everyone. You can only try to save as much people as you can. Now think!" Yang yelled.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said as she slowly faded into rose petals, using her semblance to fly away faster than Yang and Blake could keep up, to fight more of the monsters.


	27. Chapter 27: Amidst the Burning Ruins

**I'm sorry I'm late. I 'failed' NaNoWriMo (after 21k words) because my internship got hectic. The positive of that? I will have a job bridging the period between the ending of my internship and the start of the next semester and talked about my future with my employer. All hopeful things.**

 **We recently hit 50k views. I still can't believe that this story has become as 'popular' as it has. I am so insanely grateful for all my readers and I hope you're still enjoying the story. Now as for progress, I can entrust to you guys, we're not even close to the end. There are still many things that can and will happen as the story continues its progress. Even though I might have trouble updating on a regular basis, I promise you guys I will finish this story.**

 **Either way, I present to you, Chapter 27: Amidst the Burning Ruins.**

* * *

Chapter 27: Amidst the Burning Ruins

* * *

Jaune struck with his shield at the Alpha standing before him, making it reflect harshly off his shield and making it howl in pain. He had made sure to evacuate as much of the still remaining citizens as he could and decided he could best help in the defense of the city now. Eventual stragglers he made sure could get away safely, but his focus now was on fighting the Grimm.

Jaune directed his attention to Phare's house for now. Every time he had returned to the airships, he had asked for her but every time no one had seen her. But Jaune refused to acknowledge she was dead. There was no way.

He decapitated the Alpha wolf, making the other Beowolves circling Jaune tuck their tail in between their legs and back off.

"Yeah! Go on! Scram!" Jaune yelled and waved with his arms towards the Beowolves which started scrambling away from the Hunter. He sighed to himself, continuing to the street where they had been staying. _Guess those few days off figuring out the city come in pretty handy now_ , Jaune thought grimly to himself.

With a heavy bash of his shield, he broke down the wall between the areas and vaulted through it to get closer to Phare's house. Jaune put his shield on his back and hugged the wall of a nearby house as he switched his sword to its rifle mode and slowly walked out into the street, scanning the corners quickly to make sure he could cross safely. When the only sounds he could hear was the crackling of the burning buildings and the sounds of fighting in the distant, Jaune ran to the house and kicked the front door in.

The smoke inside of the house quickly escaped through the front door and Jaune put his arm around his mouth to prevent himself from breathing the asphyxiating fumes. He removed his arm quickly and shouted loudly. "Phare!".

Coughing and a painful moan confirmed Jaune's suspicion that Phare was still in here. Quickly he made his way through the smoke to where he thought she was. He found her underneath two burning support beams, the heavy wooden logs already having burnt her skin. They had broken through from either side and through the smoke it was hard to see the actual damage they had done to the rest of the house, never mind the structural integrity of the house.

"Alright Phare. I'm going to pull these beams off." Jaune quickly said before grasping the first of the smoldering beams and pulling it off. The house moaned in response, the structure quickly becoming unstable due to the fire.

"Jaune. They took Pyrrha's shards." Phare managed to say with raspy breaths.

"We'll find them later, okay. First we have to - " Jaune said before lifting the second beam off of her. "- get you out of here."

As the beam was removed the house shifted again, the wooden supports slowly degrading to where the house would collapse. Quickly Jaune lifted Phare in his arms and ran towards the entrance to the house, only to find more burning wood to block it. They were trapped.

 _Think Jaune. Think._ He said to himself. Phare was coughing heavily and his own head was starting to become hazy from the smoke as well. It stung in his eyes and it became increasingly harder to see. Jaune swallowed nervously before grabbing his kiteshield from his back and rushing into the wood blocking the entrance, attempting to shield Phare as much from the bash as he could. He broke just enough for the both of them to stumble outside before the house collapsed behind them, making the fires breathe out and raise their flames.

Jaune took deep breaths, savoring the outside air and clearing his stinging eyes before pushing himself off of the ground to check up on Phare. Immediately he could see her state was grave. Her breathing was labored and her eyes closed.

"Phare. Come on. Stay with me. Breathe." Jaune said as he sat on his knees before her.

Slowly she opened her eyes, gazing at Jaune. He could see the pain she was feeling in her eyes.

"I think .. this is .. my end. " Phare said in between heavy breaths.

"Phare. No it is not. Come on. I just need you to breathe." Jaune said again, trying to help her sit up a little so she could get more air in her lungs.

Slowly Phare grasped Jaune's hand and a small smirk came on her lips. "Don't be afraid … I'll tell Pyrrha about you .. about who you've become .."

"Phare. No." Jaune said, looking more serious at her this time.

"But you have to … find the shards … don't let them … spoil her memory." Phare said, grasping Jaune's hand a little tighter as she hissed from pain.

Jaune heard footsteps and quickly glanced up. Weiss and Neo were standing there, much to his surprise. The both of them looked in shock at him as they saw him hold the dying woman.

"Jaune.. You have to promise … Ruby .. Keep her safe." Phare said, her voice becoming nearly a whisper.

"I .. I will." Jaune said, looking down again and holding Phare's hand gently.

"It is .. such a shame .. That I can't see Ruby .. before I leave .. and return to dust." Phare smiled again, whispering now. "Tell her .. I'm proud of her too .. and to trust in her friends .."

Jaune held his tongue as he felt Phare's grasp weaken. Slowly his tears started falling.

"You two .. will pave the way .." Phare sighed, closing her eyes before taking her final breath. As her air escaped, Jaune could feel her strength fall away. Slowly he laid her down and folded her arms to her chest, his tears flowing freely now.

Jaune continued to stare at Phare's lifeless form as tears ran down his cheeks. Crestfallen he sat there as the fire raged on behind him. Slowly but surely, Weiss walked up to him and as gentle as she could placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Jaune.. We have to go.." Weiss said as caring as she could.

"Just.. Just a moment. Just give me a moment." Jaune said, wiping the tears away before Weiss walked away to give him his peace.

 _I'm sorry. I wasn't able to save you. But I shouldn't blame myself._ Jaune thought to himself. _But I will. Because if I had thought of it sooner, I could have been here earlier. I could have prevented your death._

 _But, I won't linger on it. Thank you for teaching Ruby about her powers. And showing her the way to unlocking that by involving me. Thank you for giving me the chance to connect to her in the way Pyrrha did to me._ Jaune thought to himself as he stood again. _Thank you._

Neo was shook from her trance of looking at the burning house when Jaune stood, tapping Weiss on the arm. Weiss turned around and looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"She's gone. There's nothing more I can do." Jaune said.

"That's not an answer." Weiss said, with the same care.

Jaune sighed. "I'm not okay. But we have to move on. Do you know where Ruby is?"

Weiss shook her head. "No. But she's being hunted. Yang and Blake are trying to find her. Tyrian, apparently one of _her_ lackeys is the orchestrator of this attack. He's hunting Ruby. Raven is scouting ahead. "

"Then let's find Ruby." Jaune said, breathing in deep before heading down the street, towards the center of the city with Neo and Weiss in tow.

* * *

Ruby found herself unable to continue on using her semblance as she dashed from rooftop to rooftop. She had seen too much. She wasn't unfamiliar with death. Sometimes, she knew, it couldn't be prevented. She had made peace with that. As an Atlas Specialist, she had to deal with it repeatedly. But this was on a scale far worse than Beacon.

Quickly Ruby materialized as she made her way into a large bell tower. Greedily she took in gulps of air as she fell to her knees, the smoke of the fires around the cities still clouding most of the area, but the bell towers relatively unharmed state made it a temporary safe haven. Mentally, she was exhausted. She wished to just huddle up and be done with it. Wait until it was all over. But Ruby knew she couldn't. She had to stop him. She had to stop that _Tyrian._

"Ruby. Stop." an unknown voice resounded in the area.

Ruby quickly readied Crescent Rose and looked around her for the source of the voice, her combat instincts kicking in before her rationality. As she turned around, her heart dropped.

"Mom..?" Ruby breathed as she stared wide eyed at the white glowing figure before her.

The figure smiled at her. "I'm sorry Ruby. I wasn't able to break through before."

Ruby dropped Crescent Rose on the floor as she ran over to the figure. She threw her arms around it and nuzzled into the familiar form. Mental exhaustion overtook her and she was unable to keep it together. Ruby sobbed heavily as she felt the figure return the embrace, softly petting her hair.

"I missed you so much.. I needed you.. All those years.." Ruby said through the heavy sobs.

"I know.. And I'm sorry. But Ruby, I need you to listen very closely to me.." Summer said, holding up Ruby's face to look her in the eyes. "Don't go in alone."

"W-what? But I have to.. He's coming for me, Mom! Me! None of the others! This whole town was destroyed because of me!" Ruby said confused and angry.

"Yes. But you can't do it alone." Summer said.

Ruby released the embrace and took a step back. "Don't you understand?! I don't want people to die because of me!"

"Ruby. Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't sacrifice yourself in vain. I thought the same thing you did, and in the end all it did was make everyone miserable. I never should have gone on that mission and leave you, Yang and Tai alone. I should've listened to Qrow. But I didn't. Because all I could think of was protecting you and Yang." Summer said.

"You have to understand that I love you, very, very much. All these years this .. fragment of me has been dormant inside of you. I am so incredibly proud of you. But don't do what I did. _They_ are much stronger than they seem, and you can't possibly think to defeat them alone. Promise me you won't." Summer finished.

"Mom.." Ruby started.

"Promise me, Ruby." Summer insisted as she stared into the silver eyes.

"I .. I won't go in alone." Ruby said, looking down.

"Who are you talking to?" Another voice said. Ruby quickly swung around and looked at Raven, who looked mildly annoyed at her.

Ruby turned again to find the apparition of her mother gone. She swallowed deeply before turning around again. "No one. Now how are you here? Are you the one that did this?" Ruby said as she quickly picked up Crescent Rose and aimed it at Raven.

"No. For your information, I'm the one that brought your friends here. You see, if I wanted to kill you, I would've already done so. I think we both know perfectly well that I'm capable of killing you before you would even know it. With your 'Maiden's soul' or not." Raven said. "And as for how, I like to keep that a Huntresses' secret."

Ruby peered at the woman, defying the annoyed red-eyed stare.

"Now, if you're done whining, you need to find the rest while I find Tyrian and stall him until you guys get here. Trust me, you'll know where to go when I start stalling him." Raven said before jumping away from the bell tower.

Ruby sighed to herself, reminding herself of the promise she made. Against her own nature, she launched herself away from the bell tower, in search of her friends.

* * *

Blake and Yang ran as they continued to follow the petal trail. In her mind, Yang was questioning herself about Ruby. What had happened to her to think that way? It made no sense.

All of a sudden Blake stopped and put her hand in front of Yang. Her ears perked up and she intently listened to something. After a moment she looked at Yang.

"Someone's coming. And really fast. I don't know who it is." Blake said before pulling Gambol Shroud from its sheath and wielding it. Yang nodded at her and counted the rounds in Ember Celica. In the flash of an eye, Yang was kicked and flung away by the sheer force of the attack.

Tyrian's crazed eyes swapped to Blake now, a mad cackle leaving his lips. "Well, well, well! A cyborg and a cat. How curious for you to be the stragglers among these ruins.. Unless you're not stragglers at all of course."

Blake eyed his weapons. Two blades attached to his wrists like pincers. In an instant, he was upon her, but she was prepared. His speed was incredible but she was able to block the blow and recover quickly. She assumed his speed was the largest part of his strength, and she was right as he started a relentless assault on her which she was only narrowly able to defend from.

"Oh come on! Show me your kitty claws!" Tyrian taunted, cackling madly as he continued to ferociously strike at Blake.

An explosion shook the ground as Yang launched herself. Tyrian turned to look at the source only to take Yang's fist to the jaw. The heat of the flames around them was paling in comparison to the heat of Yang's semblance.

As Tyrian hit the ground, he deftly jumped upward to a standing position again. "Now that is more like it!" he cackled.

"You got a problem? Then take it up with me." Yang spat through gritted teeth.

Tyrian turned his head as he looked at the blonde. "You share a remarkable similarity with someone else I know. Ah! Yes! The Branwen _bitch_!" Tyrian said gleefully, nearly shuddering in his excitement. "Oh goodie! I get to kill the both of you today!"

In an instant Tyrian was upon Yang who was forced to defend. Blake dashed in, using Gambol Shroud's sheath to get additional attacks in. However, Tyrian was too agile. Each strike Blake made was easily dodged by him as he continued his relentless attack on Yang.

"Oh, did you think I forgot about you little kitty?" Tyrian hissed, before his cloak fell off, the black scorpion tail now also on the offense to Blake. "I'm just barely warming up!"

Yang shot a look towards Blake, whom quickly nodded before Yang shot an explosive projectile at the ground underneath Tyrian, giving the both of them a moment to back off. When the smoke cleared there was no sign of Tyrian to be seen. Blake focussed and peaked her ears, listening for an incoming attack. But she could hear nothing. Only the crackling of wood.

"I think he went away." Blake said, looking at Yang again.

"That can't be good." Yang said as she rotated the barrel of her mechanical arm. "Let's go. We need to find Ruby before him."

* * *

Raven witnessed the small fight, but decided not to intervene. It would only mean that Yang and her faunus friend would be in danger while they had not yet regrouped with the rest. Sighing to herself, Raven ran across the rooftops, following Tyrian's trail. She observed that they were lucky. He was still wandering, presumably looking for Ruby, without any clear trail.

 _Good_.

Raven slotted one of ice dust blades before going faster across the rooftops, slowly overtaking Tyrian. Once close enough, she dove towards him intending to pierce him through. His scorpion tail wrapped around the handle of her sword and flung Raven away into one of the burning buildings.

"Ohohoho! I have to say that you tried your best .. but you see.." Tyriad said as he slowly sauntered to the obliterated building. "There is a reason she picked me, not you. You see, I always had my suspicions on you. And it was just.. _Exhilarating_ to hear Salem give the command."

Raven grit her teeth as she stood from the burning wreckage and grabbed her blade again. _Right. Time to get serious then._

"What? That measly throw was enough to best you? _REALLY?_ Pah! I'm wasting my time here. Where is that stupid Maiden.." Tyrian said to himself as he turned away from the wreckage, observing the sky.

Raven removed the ice blade and replaced it with a red one. Slicing, she made a portal and disappeared before reappearing in front of Tyrian.

Tyrian's grin spread from ear to ear. "Oh.. yes. That's the look I wanted. That innate drive to want to absolutely _murder_ me. Ooh I am just getting shivers from this!" he cackled, readying his weapons and tail. "Come on then! HIT ME!"

"Happy to oblige." Raven spat, before channelling her power through the blade.

* * *

The ground shook as Weiss pinged Yang and Blake. _Found Jaune. Going to whatever the commotion is._ Quickly she put her Scroll back in her pocket, checking the reserves of Myrtenaster one last time.

"So do you have any idea on this Tyrian character?" Jaune quickly asked as he continued scanning the street for any straggling Grimm that would stand in their way.

"No. Raven knows more, but she went to find him to stall him for us.. Which undoubtedly is why the ground is shaking." Weiss said as she ran after Jaune.

Neo was running ahead. She stopped and waved both Jaune and Weiss over before running ahead again. As the both of them turned the corner, they could see Ruby ferociously fighting against a few Ursa and Creep. It was almost like a deadly dance, the crimson haired woman dual wielding both the scythe and the sword effortlessly. As the final Grimm was slain, she looked up at the three.

Spotting Jaune, she ran to him and embraced him tightly for a brief moment. "I'm glad I found you guys." Ruby said, a small smile on her lips.

"It's good to see you too." Jaune said, placing a kiss on her forehead. "You sure did a number on those Dragons.".

"Wait, they're dead?" Weiss said as she looked astounded at Ruby.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah. But we have no time to talk. We need to find Yang and Blake and then help Raven."

"I already pinged them. They should meet us a-" Weiss started before spotting the both of them running towards the small group. "Nevermind, here they are."

"Ruby don't you ever do that shit again!" Yang yelled as she stared angrily at her sister as they came close, much to the surprise of Weiss, Neo and Jaune. Ruby could only look down guiltily.

"I'm sorry Yang. I was too focussed on trying to protect everyone. I shouldn't have ran off without you two." Ruby said.

"No you shouldn't have." Yang said as she hugged Ruby. "I was worried out of my mind."

"Nevermind that we just had to defend ourselves from Tyrian." Blake said. "He's an incredibly fast scorpion faunus. Yang got a good punch it, but I don't think it really did anything. It only seemed to make him.. More excited."

Yang let go. "Yeah. We need to think of an idea. And quick. I don't think that if my mother's fighting him, and she's convinced that he's much stronger than her, she'll last long."

"Well, what's his main method of attack?" Weiss asked, handing Yang a bandage who took it gratefully and wrapped it around a gash that was bleeding.

"Two pincer-like wristblades and his tail. I don't know if he has any ranged capability, but he seemed to favor being in the thick of it. And, well, he's incredibly fast." Yang said as she finished.

Ruby put her hand to her mouth in thought as slowly a plan formulated in her head. "I think I have an idea. Jaune, Yang, you make up the frontline. Me and Blake will act as distractions, try to get some form of damage in as we do so. Weiss, Neo, you two run support. Try to slow him down and disorientate him as much as you can. Listen for the calls I'll make and make sure he doesn't get the jump on you. Got it?"

The people around her nodded and Ruby slid the sword back into the slot on Crescent Rose. "Good. Then let's help Raven out."


	28. Chapter 28: When the Dust Settles

**So. Uh. Hi. I'm not dead. And I figured you guys deserved a little love.**

 **Let me explain first however, why I've been away. At the start of December 2016, I got sick with a flu. No biggy normally. However, this turned out to be quite a problem. As I still experience side effects from that flu, _nearly four months later._ It's left me sick to the point of uselessness on some days, and I've already seen my doctor quite a lot. Basically, slime accumulates in my throat and makes it hard for me to breathe. So I've been walking around feeling like I've been choking for closing up to 4 months now and there is nothing that can be done about it, as there are no medicine to alleviate it. It's been making me very tired and it's hard to go outside because of hay fever season. Great, I know, it's amazing.**

 **Aside from being a whiny little bitch however, I have finished my internship successfully. So successful even, that I was offered a job. Which is awesome. I love my job and I love what I do there and the whole company itself. However, in the period leading up to the new semester, that meant I'd be working full time. Amazing for my wallet, but less amazing for my time. Now my semester has started again, and that's taking away the majority of my time because I'm trying to get graduate next semester. Quick note: I don't have tests. I do projects and based on that I am 'tested' in an assessment. Basically means I can learn what I want as long as it's reasonable. Major downside? NO REDO'S.**

 **So, right, enough about me, what about the story? Well. I've said it before, but I want to make it abundantly clear.**

 _ **I will not stop writing this story until it is finished, or I will die trying.**_

 **"Little dramatic, don'tcha think?" - Yup. You're right. But I don't want to give you, the readers, the idea that I've given up. Sometimes, real life gets in the way of things and I have to deal with that. Writing is a hobby, one I very much enjoy and I love that even during the time that I wasn't able to write I would still get people following and favoriting the story. It's the little things that keep my attention there and working on the chapter little by little until it's finished.**

 **I want to thank reddit user bless_ure_harte for checking up on me in an old thread from 4 November on the RWBY subreddit. When I saw the comment, it made me all warm and fuzzy inside, even though it was just a small question about asking for an update on the story. (which, at the time, was still soon(tm)).**

 **I also want to thank reddit user gbrincks for recommending my fanfic on a thread. It was kind of a surreal moment for me to see it actually listed. Many, many, many thanks for that.**

 **But ah, dear reviewers, don't think I've forgotten you. I love to hear from the readers. I plan on wanting to react to each review separately from now on, in order to interact more with you guys. I'm still me however, so chapters are going to be on a VERY sporadic update schedule. Sometimes, the planets just align and I can pump out something. Sometimes, it takes a whole lot of discussion and thought before I get anywhere.**

 **But, Life, uhh, finds a way.**

* * *

Chapter 28: When the Dust settles.

"WHY, WON'T, YOU, JUST, DIE!?" Tyrian shouted, each word emphasized by a heavy strike towards Raven, whom parried or dodged every strike towards her. While looking worse for wear, Raven didn't feel exhausted. As another strike went towards her, she deflected his pincer-like blade upwards and kicked him harshly in the chest.

"BAH! I'm not here for you either way! I've had enough of these games.." Tyrian said, the glint in his eye flashing once again and his tail poised over his shoulder. "Now.. DIE!"

Raven blinked before gasping as he was upon her. She grit her teeth as the pincer-blade on his wrist struck her, chunking her aura away. In a split second she saw the stinger move towards her and quickly deflected it before jumping away. However, it was futile as Tyrian jumped after her once again. Raven attempted to parry the stinger, but felt her shoulder being grabbed and pulled down towards the ground. A flash of yellow appeared and flew past the stinger to connect to Tyrian's face with a sickening crack.

Tyrian was flung away by the force, stopping once he connected with some rubble. With a high whine, he stood again, clutching his nose with blood seeping between his fingers. "Aagh! Who dares interrupt my fight?!"

"That would be me. Or us, rather." Yang said as the vent on her mechanical arm opened up to release the built up pressure with a loud hiss. Quickly she was joined by Blake, Jaune, Weiss and Neo.

Tyrian grit his teeth as he stared down at them. "Where are you hiding the red one.. The one who slayed Cinder? Mistress wants to see her.. punished.".

A loud bang was followed by a loud ringing as it was blocked by Tyrian. As he looked up, he saw Ruby descend. The madness in his eyes returned along with the psychotic grin. "There she is!" he yelled, before cackling and launching upward.

Ruby smiled to herself as she dispersed into rose petals and swerved past him using the wind, leaving him in the air helplessly. When Ruby materialized again, she took up aim towards Tyrian. "Ice Flower! Dragon Slayer! Calico!"

Yang snickered at the last command, eliciting a groan from Blake. "What? I thought it was funny." she said before launching herself towards Tyrian as Jaune ran to underneath him. Weiss created ice-glyphs in front of Crescent Rose as Ruby let loose, every hit striking Tyrian and freezing a part of his body.

Tyrian cried out in pain from the freezing before Yang launched her fist downward into him, sending him down towards the ground with great speed. With a heavy hit, he impacted into Jaune's shield whom activated his semblance to return the impact to Tyrian, sending him flying up into the air again. Yang repeated the hit, sending him down again as Jaune repeated his.

When Yang had flown too far to be able to hit him, Neo and Blake took over as Blake wrapped him in Ribbons and Neo focussed on creating illusions around him. As the process completed, Tyrian groaned heavily as his vision was heavily blurred and his movement restricted. Ruby hadn't seen the telltale 'flash' of an aura diminishing so continued firing, encasing Tyrian in a block of ice and adding layers on top of it.

All of them regrouped at Ruby, who kept her weapon trained on the ice block. "You think that did it?" Weiss asked before a loud crack could be heard. The cracking continued as the ice crumbled around Tyrian, accompanied by a haunting mad cackle.

Finally, the ice block exploded sending shards scattering. Inside was no longer the opponent they were fighting, but something very different. The telltale marks of Grimm were now upon him, bone-like armor adorning his now black skin, the black scorpion tail now white as bone and the mad yellow eyes now faded to a deep blood red. "Now this is a fight! I was worried you would be like Cinder. Weak, Pathetic. But now I can see why she lost to you! But don't you worry. I'll bring your corpse to Mistress Salem yet."

Ruby's eyes widened at the transformation before he disappeared. Or rather, he moved so fast she was barely able to see it. Ruby blocked his strike with Crescent Rose, his momentum however sending her rolling across the road. Quickly Ruby recovered, slamming Crescent Rose's blade into the ground and slowly coming to a halt. "Scatter! Quick!" Ruby yelled as Tyrian looked around hungrily.

Ruby loaded a round and fired at him, grabbing his attention. Immediately she used her semblance and went on the counterattack, spinning Crescent Rose to strike him repeatedly but also deflect his attacks. He grinned as he effortlessly dodged Ruby's attack and moved unnaturally past a strike and struck Ruby. She grit her teeth as she jumped away, feeling her aura be drained. Right. Can't fight him alone. Especially not now.

"Freezerburn! Vanilla! Ladybug!" Ruby called out, loading her movement rounds.

"Such fancy names! But also so silly.. Do you think you can really stop me now?" Tyrian cackled.

Weiss stabbed Myrtenaster on the ground, freezing a patch on the ground around them. Yang launched up before slamming hard on the ground, causing the ice to evaporate into a thick cloud of mist. Yang smiled to herself but her heart dropped as she felt her foot grabbed. "Gotcha." Tyrian called before his fist connected with her face and he flung her away.

"Yang!" Blake called out as she saw her partner be flung away.

"And there's the kitty cat!" Tyrian cackled as he swung for Blake, but missed. ".. What?"

Tyrian heard multiple simultaneous rifle shots before they impacted him through the icy mist. He howled in rage before slicing ferociously through the mist at the origin point of the shots, each appearing like Jaune but breaking like glass under his fist.

"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU AND YOUR STUPID TRICKS. COWARDS!" Tyrian yelled, his form growing ever more Grimm-like. As more appearances of Jaune showed up, Tyrian broadly swung with the blades on his wrist and his tail. Neo focussed heavily on creating the appearances she hadn't seen the tail coming in. With a barely audible gasp the end of his tail hit her in the stomach, sending her sprawling over the uneven brick street.

The illusions faded as they fell apart into shards of glass and Neo's aura flickered from the damage she had taken. Slowly, the mist let up and the area became more visible. Tyrian licked his lips in sadistic hunger as he saw the injured huntress and leapt towards Neo.

Neo turned around to see Tyrian come for her and quickly held up her estoc in an attempt to defend herself. Closing her eyes, she hoped it wouldn't hurt. But her stomach lurched as she was suddenly moved and landed in someone's arms. As she opened her eyes, she saw she was in Weiss' arms and looking back to where she had previously been, she saw Tyrian obliterating his own wristblades on Jaune's shield and semblance.

Tyrian let out a whining howl of pain, looking at his broken claw-like hands and wrist-blades. "YOU BASTARD!" he let out, looking with murder in his eyes at Jaune who peered over the shield back at him. Tyrian's stinger poised for attack as he charged towards Jaune, wildly stabbing with his stinger.

A glyph appeared underneath Jaune as he jumped away before Ruby and Blake engaged, each keeping their distance but doing a lot of damage with each strike they did. In his rage, Tyrian was unable to defend properly, holding up his hands to protect himself and attempting to hit them with his stinger. But they were too fast, and he was too injured. Ruby and Blake whittled him down as the darkness seeped from the wounds on his body. As he fell to his knees, his stinger returned to behind him. Ruby could see the defeat in him and rapidly disengaged with Blake following her.

With rage-fueled eyes, Tyrian peered at Ruby and the rest. He spat at the ground, coloring some of the bricks red with blood. "So that's how it is, huh? It's such a pity you don't see the world the way we do. We are because of what everyone ignores, you know?"

He cackled madly again before staring at Ruby in defiance again, his psychopathic smile even eerier due to the blood on his teeth.

"Who is Salem?" Ruby asked in a stern tone, lowering Crescent Rose slightly.

Tyrian chuckled. "Mistress Salem, is Remnant's undoing. Why don't you ask your mother, Yellow. She'll know a lot more." he said, cackling madly again.

"Are there more like you?" Ruby said, stepping closer but holding up her guard with Crescent Rose.

"Really? You think that although you beat me, I'm going to tell you?" Tyrian said, laughing unimpressed at Ruby. "I'm already dead. There is nothing you can do that would cause me to spill my guts. In fact, as we're speaking, my original goal is completed. Haven has fallen, with a little help of course, and Mistress Salem shall receive what is her right."

Ruby took a deep breath as she gripped Crescent Rose a little tighter. "We will stop her." she stated. And Ruby knew they would.

"Ah, but at what costs? This all is just a taste of things to come! And I am savoring it in my last moments." Tyrian said, laughing as he looked around at the burning square. "Can you feel it? All the pain and despair? You know what it reminds me of?"

Ruby peered at him cautiously.

"Your mother. And the last breath she took." Tyrian said before leaning inwards and letting his stinger stab over his head.

Everything went in slow motion for Ruby. Her instincts kicked in but she could see it was too late. She could hear every beat of her heart as she futilely raised Crescent Rose to block with. She braced herself for the pain and hoped as she closed her eyes. But then nothing happened until she felt a few drops of wetness hit her face.

Slowly Ruby opened her eyes to find Raven before her. The stinger had pierced through the side of her abdomen. Ruby looked in horror at the wound before she could hear the heavy 'click' from Raven's weapon. Raven struck, cutting off Tyrian's stinger causing him to scream in agony as she grit her teeth against the pain and venom flooding her system as the stinger fell out. Swinging her sword outwards to the side, Raven grabbed it upside down and swung for Tyrian's neck.

A thud signalled the end of Tyrian. Silence permeated the air, amplifying the horror of what had just occurred. With a painful moan, the silence was broken by Raven as she fell on one knee, leaning on her sword for a brief moment before collapsing. Ruby snapped out of her shocked trance as she quickly grabbed bandages from one of her packs as Raven fell over, quickly applying as much pressure as she could to the wound.

Raven coughed violently, blood staining her lips. The wound was already discoloring, the dark crimson now mixed with the venom becoming a deep purple and each time Ruby dipped the cloth to remove the blood and venom, the discoloration would happen again. Panicked, she looked behind her at the others approaching her. Weiss and Yang immediately dropped to their knees to help Ruby with Raven, pulling out their packs and pooling the medical supplies.

Weiss took a deep breath as she surveyed Raven's wound. It's bad. She thought to herself. It's really bad. The bleeding wasn't stopping even though they applied pressure and fresh bandages on the wound. Raven coughed, the deep purple staining her lips instead of the crimson.

"Jaune." Ruby hoarsely said, looking up as she kept up the pressure on the wound. "Call in a medevac if at all possible." Jaune nodded, pulling out his scroll and attempted to contact Atlas, or anyone at all.

Meanwhile, Yang was conflicted and in shock. The person she had hated for so long, whom she had spent most of her live aspiring to look for, to get answers from, was dying in front of her. But she didn't feel apathy like she thought she would. Instead, Yang felt desperation. She felt dread. She felt fear. And for the first time in a long time, Yang was truly scared. Scared to not only lose the answers she hadn't gotten, but scared to lose her mother. Again. Yang thought inwardly. I will lose her again. But this time, it'll be for good.

With a laboured cough Raven spit out purple globs of blood mixed with venom. She opened her eyes to look at those around her for a moment before attempting to speak. A hiss of pain left her lips before she spoke.

"I hope .. that you now see.. what you're up against." Raven managed to breathe. She swallowed hard before coughing violently. The blood loss had drained her visibly, the spiderweb of veins in her arms becoming visible.

"We need to cauterize the wound." Blake said, her voice sounding shaken. "It's the only way we can stop the bleeding for now. But we need to clean the wound, and I don't know what the poison will do."

Weiss nodded at Blake and pulled out a small satchel with a fire Dust crystal. "I can activate it and cauterize the wound with this. Ruby, do you have any water on you?"

Ruby quickly grabbed the small canteen and unscrewed the lid, splashing the water on the open wound and cleaning it with the last clean bandage. As Ruby finished, she nodded at Weiss who applied a small amount of Aura to the Fire dust crystal. Raven shrieked in pain as the Dust burned the wound to a close, her aura too depleted to numb the smell making the Hunter and Huntresses gag, but Weiss kept her resolve as she finished up.

"Get her on her side. We need to close the exit wound as well." Weiss stated, trying to roll Raven over to her side. Ruby and Yang quickly helped and Weiss continued cauterizing the wound quickly. Again Raven shrieked in pain as she felt the pain run it's course through her. Without the Aura to numb it, the pain was blinding. It didn't take much longer for her to blackout from the pain and fall over lifelessly.

Jaune quickly rejoined the Huntresses as they were tending to the injured warrior. "Cavalry is close. I'm getting glitched Atlas pings but I've got flares setup." he said as Weiss finished her cauterization. "How's it looking?"

Weiss put away the fire crystal back into the pouch. "I don't know." she answered truthfully. The group shared glances with each other. Many of the same emotions were running through them. Some relief. Some anger. Some dread. But mostly fear was running it's course. Ruby could see it clearly in their eyes. When her gaze connected with Jaune's, there was something else. Uncertainty. An uncertainty she had seen before, when she had gone to Atlas with him. Where they had both grown to fight for what was right. To save people.

Ruby stood, catching all the eyes to her. Nervously, she cleared her throat.

"Whatever happened today, is apparently only the beginning." Ruby started. "I've seen many lives lost today. I've seen what the Grimm can do and I've now seen who and what we're up against. What this war that Cinder started is all about.".

Ruby felt herself break, but steeled herself as she continued. "We have a name now. Salem. We know what our enemy is capable of and that they are set on taking away all of that which we love. Like Beacon, ten years ago."

"But I will not let them. I think Atlas and Vale won't let them either." Ruby stated, angry tears now streaming. Tears for all the people that perished in Haven. Tears for injustice that had been done to so many innocents. "I'm going to find Salem and her lackeys. And I'm going to stop them. Whatever necessary. I'm going to stop them."

"We all are." Yang said, her voice barely higher than a whisper as she looked up at her friends. "We need to stop them. Not for ourselves, then for everyone else. Ruby is right. We need to stop them. Whatever it takes."

Ruby looked at Weiss. "Whatever it takes." Weiss said, nodding at her.

Blake repeated it. "Whatever it takes.".

Neo simply nodded at Ruby in agreement.

Ruby stared into Jaune's eyes again as she held one of his hands. "Whatever it takes." he said. As Ruby looked at him, she could see the fire reignited in his eyes. When she looked at her friends, she could see the same resolve.

 _We're going to stop her._ Ruby thought to herself, making peace with the thought.

 _Whatever it takes._

* * *

It didn't take long for the Atlas medevac to arrive after their talk. Raven was still alive, but barely breathing. The medics on the small airship looked confused as they surveyed her wounds on the flight back. "Did you cauterize her wounds?" one of them asked. Weiss nodded at them. "Bleeding was too heavy. We needed to do something.". The medic shook his head disapprovingly and walked back to the isolated treatment area.

Ruby was leaning her head on Jaune's shoulder. Yang and Blake were Mentally, she was done for. All she wanted was to retreat into herself and not come out for a week. But she knew she couldn't.

"Ruby. There is something I need to tell you… about.. Phare.." Jaune said. Ruby clenched his hand.

Ruby felt the pit in her stomach grow. Somewhere, she had known. Somewhere, she had hoped. But the truth was simple. ".. She's dead, isn't she." the words weren't even really a question. More confirming what she already knew.

Jaune rubbed his thumb over her knuckles comfortingly. No further words needed to be said.

"I'm tired Jaune."

"I am too."

A moment of silence passed between them, and in this moment the both of them thought the same.

"Ruby.. if I.."

"Don't. Jaune. Just, don't. You wouldn't want me to talk to you about it either. I know why. But I won't even start to think about you dying."

Jaune exhaled and smiled in amusement.

"I figured as much. I love you Ruby."

"I love you too Jaune. I love you more than you could even imagine."

* * *

Seeing Ruby and Jaune together made Weiss think again. Of what she had just seen and experienced firsthand. Next to her sat the girl she had once considered her enemy. But in a bizarre twist of events, she now considered her an ally and even a close friend. Neo had this unique look on the world. A sense of carelessness or peace with it that Weiss simply did not understand.

Weiss found that she resonated well with the girl. And looking at her slumbering form, she could maybe understand why. The both of them had one thing in common.

Loneliness.

And yet, it wasn't the loneliness that had brought them together. No, that had been chance or fate. The sheer luck that Ruby had convinced a broken girl with only one goal on her mind to look beyond what she knew. To look beyond the hate, contempt and loneliness she had known.

Weiss remembered the kiss Neo gave her. Weiss hadn't returned it. But now, thinking of it, she didn't understand why she used the excuse that she didn't like girls. It held truth however. In general, Weiss hadn't much had an interest in the fairer sex. But she had these doubts and these feelings before with her then partner, Ruby Rose, and dismissed them even then. So what was the problem?

Logic overruled her thinking. _Girls shouldn't be together. It isn't natural. I barely know her. All she has given me is one kiss. She could very well betray me again._ All stupid excuses for something that wasn't an issue to begin with. But the last thought that crossed her mind set her off the most. _Father would be furious._

Weiss hadn't thought about her father in a while. With good reason. With Neo's help, she was able to shed herself from the 'Schnee Heiress' identity. To think of herself as a true Huntress, not a tool of her father's.

Curiosity set in. Weiss gently held the slumbering girl's hand with hers. Her touch was soft. Her hands and fingers were smaller than Weiss' own. But it didn't feel strange to hold Neo's hand. In a way, it felt comforting. To know that somebody knew about the plights she had and that she could connect with them. Weiss loved her friends, but always felt guilt for being the Schnee heiress. But with Neo, there was a different connection. A connection that gave Weiss peace.

* * *

Blake kept her eyes focussed on Yang. When they had captured Raven, Yang had practically disowned her mother, cursed Raven for what she had said to her. But now, there was something completely different. Blake could almost see the little girl that still craved for her mother in Yang.

Blake's heart stung a little from the thought and made her think of her own parents, back on Menagerie. She had left to try and help the faunus, but instead became more of a tool for Beacon. Of course Beacon agents were free to pursue whatever they wished, if they honored the call for a mission. Blake had preoccupied herself with said missions, never taking a break but continuing to learn.

But during that time, she had never returned back to Menagerie. Mostly because she felt ashamed of what she'd become. In hiding in the shadows, she had accomplished nothing.

However, Blake still felt that she could. Now that she was together with her friends again.

Blake took a deep breath before walking over to Yang. Carefully she put her hand on her partner's shoulder. "You should rest." Blake said, calmly.

"She's in there. I don't think I can even if I tried." Yang replied, both of her fists balled but only one showing signs of being starved of blood from the pressure.

"But you should at least try. There is nothing you can do for her right now. All we can do is wait." Blake replied.

"I know. And that's what terrifies me." Yang said. "Because even after all this time. After all this cropped up hate and misunderstanding, I still want the answers. Even after all she's said to me. I crave them."

She could almost feel Yang's exhaustion. During the fight, she had taken a heavy hit, and the mental effects of seeing her own mother almost die before her very eyes weren't helping Yang's mental state either.

With a small tug, Blake could feel Yang give in and lean into her. She walked over to the small seats near the cockpit and placed her there. Yang held onto Blake's hand, looking up at her with desperation. "Don't leave."

Blake smiled sympathetically at her partner. "I won't." and sat down.

* * *

Night had taken over the blazing town when they landed onto the dreadnought, the embers of smoldering houses almost like stars on the ground below. As Ruby and Jaune stepped out of the medevac, James Ironwood greeted them. He offered them a sympathetic smile.

"For all it's worth. I'm sorry." James said.

Ruby was too tired. Too tired for tears. Too tired to feel. She had tried to close her eyes on the short flight back, but every time the fight replayed, as if projected onto her eyelids.

"Are there any quarters we could take?" Jaune asked.

James nodded. "For each of you. Penny will show you the way. I'll make sure you are taken care of. I promise."

Jaune nodded as he and Ruby descended below the deck of the airship. Ruby's exhaustion gave way, her world turning to black as her mind blanked out. Jaune felt her go slack and quickly caught her. He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead and continued walking.

"Rest my little rose." Jaune said, unashamed of the cheesiness of his own words. "Dust knows you deserve it."


	29. Chapter 29: Like Old Times

**Hello again! So soon? Yes, so soon. It's a wonder what a burst of inspiration and some late nighters can do. Nevermind the fact that I have been feeling a little bit better (Although I felt absolutely dreadfully ill today), I actually wanted to write this chapter and had an idea how to do it. I don't like to write a lot of action scenes because I never feel I can quite convey the fight to paper (or screen in this case). In my mind, I can see what they are doing, I can see how the fight pans out. But I never am satisfied with what I jot down. I prefer drama because what I like in stories is to see the humanity of people overcoming their problems. To me, I always try to find out why people are doing things. What are their motivations? What are their actual individual stories about life? It's so infinitely interesting to see what struggle people have to overcome to where they are, and it's because of struggles like that, that I feel people become grateful of who they are in the moment. Sorry for the philosophy.**

 **desdelor97 - Thanks for the kind words!**

 **poetrymagic12 - I have actually started on Trials in Life, but again, life got in my way. I actually managed to only read Letters by fellow writer 'Unjax' lately, and have been looking into getting back into the Rwby fanfiction. I just have to get around to it. In regards to actually putting additional romantic moments between Ruby and Jaune in, I do want to. But I felt that I first had to resolve Act 2 in order to get all the characters on a same level. There's still things I don't like about how I've gone about it, but I'll maybe fix those in a rewrite. Who knows, I'm not psychic. I'll see if I can get a review for Trials in Life for you soon!**

 **AgentDraakis - Thank you so much for the very kind words. I actually write each chapter and go through them in the end to iron out things I feel I don't convey well or grammatical errors. Even then I usually find more things when I upload to the . Most of the time, when I hit my writer's block, it's because my mind is just not there. I can't visualize what I want to tell. There's a few scenes and other things in the story (which will be coming much later on. Sit tight, this is going to be a VERY long ride.) that I have already known how I wanted them to happen, and then there's a lot of things that I have changed from the original 'plan' (and I say plan in the loosest terms I can.). One of such things is what I'm doing with Weiss and Neo. And I do want to keep updating regularly. But at the same time, life is preventing from doing so. As you've said, I know most of you, my readers, can wait. But I don't want you to have to. I want to tell you this story because it's close to my heart as well.**

 **Anyway, I feel like I've ranted long enough. Enjoy chapter 29, Like old times!**

Chapter 29: Like Old Times

* * *

Ruby awoke with a startle. When she opened her eyes, she could only see darkness. As her eyes adjusted, she could see the familiar Atlas design of a 'room' for the staff and relaxed. As she looked to her side, Ruby saw Jaune sitting in a chair, his head leaning against his balled fist as he slept. She could see her gear next to him, the rack holding Crescent Rose still. Ruby took a deep breath before laying her head against the pillow of the lower bunk again. In her mind, she went over what happened before.

 _Haven was attacked. Me and Jaune helped. Tyrian did it. He's dead because of Raven. Salem is the architect of it all._ _Raven is .._ Ruby thought to herself before stopping. She didn't know if Raven was still alive. Quickly she grabbed her scroll from her pocket and opened it. _2:37 AM. I can't sleep anyway, might as well find out._ She thought to herself before getting out of the bunk and sighing deeply.

Ruby glanced over at Jaune again and smiled. Placing a kiss on his forehead, she opened the door to the quarters and stepped out. Trusting this ship was the same as she had been on before, Ruby took off towards the medbay. Surely she would find answers there. Sleepily she rubbed the sand from her eyes. Ruby always found the Atlesian airships interesting as a feat of engineering, but had rarely had any chance to really look at them due to all her missions and tasks. Not to mention that the larger ships never landed at the Atlesian Specialist Forces base. But it still felt eerie to walk in the silence through the hallways of such a large ship. _Then again, most of the crew is probably asleep. Probably also exhausted from helping all the people from Haven._

Passing a window, Ruby stopped and walked back to it. She looked over the large city below them, some of the ruins in it still smoldering. Ruby felt a pit in her stomach. _How many lives have been lost.. Do I even want to know?_ She thought, balling her fists. Ruby thought back to Tyrian. To how he laughed at the misery and death. It made Ruby hate him even more.

Ruby shook her head, clearing her mind of the hateful thoughts. _There are more important things right now, Ruby. Focus._ She mentally told herself and continued her walk to the medbay. Rounding a corner, she could spot it. Standing up to the window, Ruby peered inside. All the beds were filled, divided by cloth curtains, some of the occupants nearly unrecognizable by the amount of bandages. Ruby pressed the button next to the door and with a hiss it opened. Silently, she slipped inside, walking by every bed scanning them for the raven-haired woman. The silence was broken by the occasional cough or moan of pain. But in the background there was the beeping of the monitors. Each beat got her further into the room and made the pit in her stomach grow. _Is she.. dead?_ Ruby wondered. The thought had crossed Ruby's mind as she came here, but she hadn't thought it would be so.

Relief filled her as she saw Raven. _Thank Dust._ Ruby thought to herself. In Raven, Ruby could still see Yang. The two were truly a splitting image, except Raven was darkness and cruelty whereas Yang was warmth and hope. Ruby wondered to herself how different she was to her mother.

Ruby grabbed the chart from the front of the bed. Sure, it would probably not swing well with the doctor's, but she wanted to know if Raven would be okay. Raven had after all saved her life.

 _First Status: Severe impale wound … Battlefield cauterization … Severe hemorrhaging … Cardiovascular failure due to inflammatory response to scorpion venom (high dose)._

Ruby swallowed before reading on.

 _Second Status: Synthesized antidote to inflammatory effects of venom … Secondary effect of venom is paralytic … Synthesizing of secondary effects underway … Stabilized patient._

 _Third Status: Possible cure for paralysis possibly too late … Extensive nerve damage … Medical Coma … attempt repair of nerve cells._

Ruby had read enough and put the chart back. _She's paralyzed and comatose._ She thought to herself. Ruby felt the guilt wash over her as she moved her hand over her mouth and continued to stare. In that moment, all the sounds faded out. Everything except Raven faded away.

"Why did you save me? How did you even see it coming? Why do you insist I am the one that will save Remnant?" Ruby whispered. Of course he didn't expect answers. She just wanted to understand. Ruby furrowed her brow as she continued to stare at Raven, trying to figure out the answers herself.

" _Ma'am...?"_

What did Raven know that rest of them didn't? That Qrow and Ironwood didn't?

" _Ma'am.. Are you okay?"_

Something about her powers? About her seeing Summer? Something about Salem directly?"

"Ma'am? Can you hear me?" a voice said before Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over.

Ruby's eyebrows raised in surprise before realizing she had drifted off into her thoughts. "Oh. Sorry. I'm fine.".

"Ah. I see." the nurse said, her eyes widening a little as she recognized Ruby. "Are you.. Agent Ruby Rose?".

Ruby nodded, turning her head to look at Raven again. The nurse followed her gaze.

"Do you know her?" the nurse asked. "I'm sorry if I'm intruding."

Ruby nodded. "It's fine. She's my sister's mother. In a way."

"With your sister you mean Ms. Xiao Long?" the nurse asked. Ruby nodded again.

"She was here the whole night. On the doctor's orders to get something to eat or some rest she left. I think I just saw her on the mess deck." the nurse said. "You should join her, Miss Rose. If not to talk, then to eat. I don't know how being a maiden affects your appetite, but I presume you still need energy."

Ruby looked at the nurse and saw a compassionate smile. No other words needed to be said in regards to how she knew Ruby was a maiden, or the reason Ruby was there at Raven's bed. "Thank you." was all Ruby said before making her way over to the mess deck.

The large hall was empty, except for Yang who was stirring a spoon in a mug pensively. Ruby sat down across Yang and saw her sister hadn't noticed her. Ruby figured she was probably deep in thought.

"I never felt like Atlesian coffee stacked up against Vale's. Too bitter." Ruby said dryly, trying to get through to her sister. Yang looked up, shaking her head awake at the realization Ruby was there.

"Oh. Hey Ruby." Yang said, barely above a whisper.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked concerned. The flame and passion in her sister wasn't there. Something was obviously wrong.

Yang nodded absently. "I'm fin-" she started, but Ruby put her hand on Yang's.

"Yang. I know you're not." Ruby said. Yang sighed defeated and took a deep breath.

"I'm feeling conflicted. All this time, I wanted to ask Raven all sorts of questions. To figure out why. When I found out why, it.. didn't help me. It didn't give me the peace I hoped I would've had. Even the cruel words she said to me as we captured her don't make sense anymore." Yang said, taking a sip of the coffee.

"It's as if she doesn't want me to know the truth. And then she sacrifices herself for you. Don't get me wrong, I know what's at stake now and why she did what she did. But I feel I'm losing grasp of what's always kept me going strong." Yang continued, looking into Ruby's eyes.

"I'm sorry." Ruby said. Yang shot Ruby a small grin.

"It's not your fault. Qrow always regarded to her having an unique way of seeing things." Yang said, finishing her coffee and shoving the mug away from her. "How are you doing?" she asked, looking concerned at Ruby.

Ruby fiddled with her fingers. "I don't know. Seeing the city burn.. It ripped open some old wounds I'd rather left closed. I'm sorry for running from you two."

"I think I was scared. Scared for all of you. I didn't want to lose anyone again." Ruby continued, sighing heavily. "But I still did. Ironically, Pyrrha's mother this time. It's like it's a curse."

"Ruby.. I can't even think about what it's like being in your shoes. But despite all the hardships you've faced, you still became who you are now. Don't blame yourself. If it weren't for you, I'm sure the town would've been destroyed." Yang said. Ruby knew the words were true. "I mean, Dust's sake Ruby. You killed three dragons by yourself. Those usually takes at least two _teams_ to even think about bringing them down, nevermind three."

"But it doesn't mean I can protect everyone." Ruby said, her voice raising a little higher, the fear in her rising to the top.

"Nobody is expecting you to Rubes. You're trying your hardest like everyone else. And that's all anyone can ask for. After what happened today, I don't think anyone will have to guess what's at stake." Yang said. "And don't worry. We'll all be there to help along the way. You're not in this alone."

Ruby stammered the start of an excuse but noticed she couldn't find the words.

"You're right. It's been such a long time. It's been a little weird to hunt with friends again." Ruby said.

Yang laughed. "Well, better get used to it. I don't think any of us are going to leave."

Ruby smiled back. "Yang?" A sleepy voice called before both Ruby and Yang saw the yawning Blake walk up to them.

"Oh. Hey Blake. I couldn't sleep so I went to get some coffee." Yang said. Ruby furrowed her brow as she saw admiration in Yang's eyes before Blake kissed her partner's forehead.

"Wait. Blake, why'd you just kiss Yang?" Ruby said looking clearly confused at the couple. Both Yang and Blake looked stupefied as they looked at Ruby before looking at each other again. Blake slid into the chair next to Yang as Yang cleared her throat.

"Well, the reason Blake did that is because… well. We're together." Yang said. Ruby's was blank for a short moment as she processed the words before reaching over the table and pulling them both into an embrace, squealing in excitement and joy. Both Yang and Blake were startled, neither knowing what to do. Shortly after Ruby let go, nearly bouncing in her seat with a massive grin.

"For how long have you two been together?!" Ruby nearly yelled, unable to contain herself.

"Well. In a sense, for a very long time. But then.. I left. So we kind of started off where we left it after burying Adam in Forever Fall." Blake sighed. Yang wrapped an arm around her and smiled at her. Blake smiled back briefly.

"I mean, I knew you two were close, but I'd never have guessed you two would be _together_ together." Ruby exclaimed again before she heard a groan coming from one of the entrances to the hall.

"Dust's sake, it's almost 3 in the morning and we've all had a terrible day with a lot of stress and trauma. Why are you three up? Get some rest!" Weiss said annoyed, peering angrily at the occupants of the table.

"Oh hey Ice queen. So what's got you up?" Yang said, flashing Weiss a large grin.

"You guys yelling. What's there even to yell about? Why are you smiling?!" Weiss said.

"Well, I just was told, or well rather shown, that Yang and Blake are together!" Ruby exclaimed again with glee. "Did you know that?".

Yang and Blake both looked at Weiss with panic in their eyes as Yang made a motion for Weiss not to tell Ruby about how she'd found out. Weiss decided that whatever innocence Ruby had left after all these years, even considering her experience as an Atlas specialist and her relationship with Jaune, should be preserved.

"They told me on the search for Raven. Now considering you guys are already awake, I'll grab us some tea so we can at least have something to help us calm down and relax." Weiss said, continuing to the machine. Yang and Blake both let out a sigh of relief.

Weiss placed the tray with the cups of tea on the table. "So why are you three all awake?"

"Couldn't sleep." Yang and Ruby replied in unison.

"Couldn't find Yang." Blake replied.

Weiss sighed, rubbing her eyes before taking a sip of her tea.

"So, how are you doing Weiss?" Ruby asked, amused by her old partner's telltale chagrin.

"All things considered, dreadful. Mostly because I'm quite sure I was having the same issues you were having. Sleep doesn't come easily after what we've seen. Again." Weiss said with a sigh.

Blake nodded. "However, we shouldn't let it bring us down. We're still here. As are a lot of people. There must be a reason for it."

"You know." Ruby started, making them turn towards her. "I've been thinking about Raven's words. Back at Beacon. She told me we'd need to unite the kingdoms and find the other maidens."

"What if we did?" Ruby said. "It'd prevent another attack. We'd be able to counter it before it would happen again. I think we can create the support."

"Ruby.. That'd be building an army across the kingdoms. Even with support from Atlas and Vale, Vacuo is closed off and unlikely to agree after their opinions about what happened at the attack of Beacon, for which they still blame Atlas." Blake said. "And that's just the greater kingdoms. How about Menagerie? The lands surrounding Mistral?"

"I don't know, yet. But what if we pulled it off? We'd just need to know where 'Salem' is and we'd be able to defeat her. Stop her. Together." Ruby said determined. She looked at the others.

"Don't you also want to talk it over with Jaune and Neo here too? I mean, they're basically part of the _team_ , now." Yang said.

Weiss took a small sip from her tea. "I agree with Yang. In fact, I say that first thing in the morning, we try and contact General Ironwood to talk about it as well. Also, I think it might be a good idea to look at the data we've got on the other lackeys Salem has. I'm sure they'll show up sooner rather than later."

Ruby sighed. "Yeah. That might actually be a good idea. I think we'll be a lot clearer when we're rested."

Yang tapped her mechanical arm on the table. "Yeah, talking about clear…" she started, her grin turning mischievous as she looked at Weiss. "What is it with you and Neo lately?".

Weiss flushed immediately. "Yang, I have absolutely _no idea_ what you're talking about." she immediately responded and drank from her tea to calm herself.

"Oh don't think I didn't see that you held her hand, _Ice Princess._ " Yang sang, making Ruby and Blake laugh. Weiss looked at her friends and the smiles they had and started laughing herself.

"Alright, alright. Look, I'll explain. Let me just grab some new tea." Weiss said, standing from the table.

Ruby smiled, looking at her friends laughing again. Inside, Ruby felt like she was back at Beacon, studying, playing, fighting, laughing. In a way, Ruby felt like she didn't have a care in the world.

In a way, everything still felt like old times.

* * *

They had sat and talked for an hour more before they all left for their rooms again. It felt good to be all together again, Ruby had to admit. Weiss had been right about the stress and trauma in a way. With a hiss, the door to the quarters Ruby and Jaune had been given opened. In the chair, Jaune still slept, making Ruby smile as she closed the door.

Ruby took off her cloak, skirt and top, noting the scratches and dents of the armored plating on her usual garb. She'd buff those out later. Softly she tapped Jaune on the knee, who woke up with a small murmur. "Come on. Let's get in the bed together. Like we used to do back at the Atlas academy, I'm sure we can still fit." Ruby said. Jaune nodded at her, taking off his shirt and pants, climbing into the bunk and attempting to create as much space as he could for Ruby to fit. Ruby climbed in and slid herself to his form.

Ruby nuzzled into Jaune's chest, basking in the warmth. She could feel the blanket over her and Jaune place her lips on her forehead.

"Couldn't sleep?" Jaune whispered. Ruby nodded.

"I woke up and let you sleep. Walked around a little. Get my mind in the right place again. Yang was also up. Blake and Weiss joined later." Ruby replied.

"I see." Jaune remarked with amusement. "Little team reunion."

Ruby chuckled. "In a way, yes.".

Ruby felt Jaune's hand go through her hair and goosebumps appeared on her skin as she nearly purred at the feeling. Jaune smiled as he continued the motion, Ruby pushing her head against his hand to continue the impromptu head massage.

"Only in a way?" Jaune asked.

Ruby looked up into his eyes, smiling back at him. "Yeah. Everything's a mess. But it was nice to just sit down together. Not have to be anywhere, even though it's _very late_ and we have a lot to do tomorrow _._ " Ruby said sleepily, eyes half-lidded with exhaustion.

"I guess so. Sleep tight then, _my little Rose._ " Jaune said and placed another kiss on Ruby's forehead as she nuzzled into his chest again.

Jaune could feel her chuckle. "So cheesy.." Ruby breathed before slowly sleep took her. "Goodnight, my white knight.."

He didn't care about the cheesiness of his or her words. Jaune was just glad she was safe in his arms. And he'd do anything to keep it that way.


	30. Chapter 30: Making Plans

**Oh my god it's an update it's like I still exist. All jokes aside, yes I do still exist but have spent all my time and energy into my studies with (hopefully) good result. I've finally gotten around to finishing the chapter in a way that I also felt was quite satisfying. Since Summer's coming up, I've finally been able to the things I want. With that also came a new interesting in playing games with friends so I've been doing that a lot. Also, I've finally gotten around to reading fics again (I promise you Poetrymagic, THAT REVIEW IS COMING). Also holy smokes 100k words what the hell kind of drug am I on.**

 **The Dark Tardis - Thanks for the comment and please don't overthink it. It's really weird which is why I try to ignore it in the story.**

 **poetrymagic12 - Thanks again for the comment but I mean, there ain't no sweet lovin' in the foreseeing future as they saw Haven basically get obliterated. With all due honesty, seeing people die doesn't get me in the mood and I have no reason to believe Ruby and Jaune would be any different on that topic.**

 **kyrogue - Thanks for the comment and yes, in a way, they do. Because now they know what they're up against and basically have to come clean. You can't have 10 years instantly shared while you're constantly trying to figure out what's going on. Right then was the first true moment that they had nothing they could do and what can you do then but talk? Also, they hadn't gotten their 'private' time as a team again yet. All in all I was honestly quite satisfied with the scene.**

 **Either way, keeping things short, have some Chapter 30: Making plans**

* * *

Chapter 30: Making Plans

Morning came soon. All too soon for Ruby's liking. However she knew that she couldn't continue to rest as there was a lot to do. _First order of business,_ Ruby thought, _Go to Ironwood._

In record time Ruby had put on her clothes and gear, leaving a slightly groggy and startled Jaune still in the bed. "Whassa..?"

Ruby smiled before grabbing his hands and pulling him to the edge. "Come on, we've got a lot to do and a lot to talk about. After yesterday, it's time to get on the offensive."

"On the offensive..?" Jaune said as he buttoned his jeans.

"Like I said, A lot to talk about." Ruby said before throwing his hoodie at him. "Come on, quickly!"

* * *

Ironwood peered at the reports continuing to file in at the holodesk. Sighing heavily, he turned his head downward. The casualties were high. _Very high_. How had this slipped through the defenses of Mistral? There was no clear reason. And then there was the destruction of Haven as well. This attack had been on a whole different scale than Vale. This was an attack to annihilate.

"Sir" the distorted voice of Penny, the Atlas AI came through, "Headmaster Qrow is requesting comms."

"Open it." James said, rubbing his eyes before the holovid stream came up.

"James."

"Qrow."

"You look like shit."

"Likewise."

Qrow chuckled. "So. What's the status.".

"Haven's gone. Mistral's in complete disarray. Comms are a shitshow with the CCT down." James said, flicking through the reports. _Casualty report. Damage report. Medical supply report._ None of the titles gave him hope.

"What about Lionheart?" Qrow asked.

"MIA. Presumed KIA." James said, leaning back in his chair.

"Bullshit.. What about the relic?" Qrow said.

James sighed. "I've still got people looking for it. But there is a very high chance they have it."

A silence fell between them. "We've still got two confirmed but no clue about Vacuo." James said.

"I've sent scouts. But news remains the same. Vacuo is closed and nothing is coming in or out." Qrow spoke as he scratched his beard. "Things are starting to become increasingly more dire."

"Yes they are."

Another silence.

"How's Raven?" Qrow asked, his look turning to concern.

James flicked the medical report on Raven's condition to the holo-desk.

"Stable. Still in coma. She'll hopefully wake soon."

"And what about the kids?"

"You can hardly call them children anymore Qrow." James said, raising an eyebrow at Qrow.

Qrow shrugged and groaned.

James sighed. "They're fine. Shaken up, but fine. Ruby .. she used a lot of her aura and we know both that this was much beyond the scale of Beacon."

Qrow rubbed his eyes with two of his fingers. "James. What the hell do we do now?"

James leaned back in his chair and furrowed his brow in thought. "We're at war. I think we finally have to admit that, to the world as well."

"We don't even know who the enemy is except from whispers in the dark. 'Salem' is still a myth to most and we don't even have a location."

"My best people are at work trying to figure out. We've got a lead, but we can't scout there."

"A lead?" Qrow asked.

"It's too soon to tell, but the Dragonhead Peninsula has seen explosive Grimm growth."

".. Shit James. How the hell did you get scouts to that place?"

"I didn't." James said. "Raven did."

Qrow huffed in amusement. "Of course she did. So what's the game plan then?"

"Figure out if it holds any merit. Collect intel. Set up to strike."

"You know you'll never be able to breach the Wyvern brooding grounds with your ships."

"I'll find a way. We'll find a way. Qrow, we're standing at the advent of a war greater and more important than those ever waged. There is no way of knowing, because this has never been the situation. If any of the evidence of the last years is anything to go by, we both know we have reason to believe Salem is able to control the Grimm. It is the only realistic way to survive on the peninsula."

"So. Let's assume she does. What are we going to do against that? She'll have an unending army."

"Words of Wisdom, Qrow." James said, his tone determined. "Cut off the head, the rest will follow. Salem must die first."

* * *

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to gather up and get ready. Weiss was cranky as usual when she wouldn't get enough sleep, but the rest of them were only groggy as far as Ruby could tell.

Ruby took solid steps as she moved towards Ironwood's quarters with the rest in tow. Ruby scanned her pda at the door and not soon after the door opened.

"I presume you're all well rested then." James said, a small hint of amusement on his lips although his eyes betrayed his relief.

"Yes, General." Ruby started. "Although we do need to talk about something. All of us do." Ruby said motioning to their group.

"I suppose." James said, flicking away the holoscreen.

"Yesterday can't ever happen again, sir. After our fight with Tyrian, we are now clear of what our enemy is and what they're capable of." Ruby said, determination and a certain kind of .. intensity in her voice. "If we stand idly by, the chances that this will happen again are close to certain."

James nodded. "It sounds like you have a plan."

"Well. Yes. We do in a certain sense." Ruby said. "We need to unite all of Remnant against this common enemy. Against Salem."

"I agree, but how do you propose this?"

Ruby took a deep breath. Her next words would give her cause to be accused of accessing classified information and it would not sit well with the General, she knew for sure. But she needed to say them.

"I want to find the other Maidens. I know where they are from documents I found on the Atlas net. I also know everything about myself and what you documented of my mother." Ruby said.

James peered at Ruby but held his tongue. Everyone but Jaune also looked at her in a strange way, but knew Ruby could be trusted. She wouldn't say this without a reason.

"That's not all. Then we need to unite our people. We need to work as one army, spearheaded by the Maidens. Let us break whatever lines of defense the enemy has set up by then, if we know where they are, then we engage with the power of everyone else combined." Ruby finished, her determination shining through as she looked the General in the eyes.

A silence permeated the air for a few moments after before James spoke again.

"I should have you demoted for accessing files you shouldn't have. But, you should have probably gotten access to your own for starters." James said. "But you make a solid point. However, our search for the maidens has been longer than you've been at Atlas. What makes you think you'll succeed?"

"Because I am like them General. While I don't know how they exactly feel, I can appeal to them on that common ground. And we already know that Salem is hunting the Maidens. Mistral was no mistake by chance. It was to kill me and disable the kingdoms. If we only sit by and let them be able to take down the others Maidens more people will die. Let me try and recruit them in order to get them to our side, to let them do what the legends tell them the Maidens do."

James looked at Ruby and saw the pleading in her eyes. With a heavy sigh, he conceded. "Fine. I will let you chase the other two Maidens. However, that still doesn't say much about how you think we should go about uniting everyone. Even Mistral was a hesitant ally and the only reason Vale and Atlas are working together is because of you two and Qrow's influence in their council. What reason do you have that Vacuo or even the Faunus are willing to help? I doubt calling out to them "You need to help or the world will die." will cause them much action."

This time, it was Blake's turn to speak. "You might have a wrong idea about the Faunus, General. This war is going to be bigger than our cultural and racial differences."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that the White Fang is maybe not what you think it might be and you should give them a chance to do good and to listen to them."

James raised an eyebrow at that. "What possible reason would I have to listen to terrorists. Even though Raven was at their helm for a long time, they were helping Salem regardless."

"You assume the Vale shard of the White Fang to be still considered part of them. There is a reason I left them General. And there is a reason the White Fang excommunicated their Vale group." Blake ended.

"I still doubt you but since your actions have spoken more than your words so far, Ms. Belladonna, I'm willing to give you a chance at persuading the White Fang and the Faunus of Menagerie, however this still doesn't solve our problem with Vacuo."

"General, if you wouldn't mind I'd be willing to take care of the diplomacy regarding Vacuo with your consent of course." Weiss stepped forth. "I doubt you'll mind me with my experience regarding such, and I do know we are both on the same page regarding what needs to be done."

"You do know that for all you know they will not react, Ms. Schnee." James said.

"Please General, call me Weiss, I don't bear that name anymore. And yes. However sometimes you need to speak to the people face to face in order to get what you want." Weiss said. "Which is my plan.".

James looked pensive again as he mulled over everything he had just heard. "There is very little support I can give you and I have the feeling that you will not need my consent either way to do the things you want since most of you are not under my direct command. However, I do expect you all to respect the bond between Vale and Atlas as you go about your efforts. Only you two, Ruby and Jaune, are expected to act in Atlas' interests. Now that that's been said, I deem your causes and plans appropriate in the situation and have no one else to spare regarding these tasks for the foreseeing future." James said.

"However, I do want to make perfectly clear, that you're on your own regarding these tasks. There will be support coming from Atlas and Vale as we try to salvage from Mistral as much as we can and help their people. If things go wrong on the diplomacy end regarding the Faunus and Vacuo, we will deny any involvement. And if you fail to secure the Maidens.."

James left the words where they were. There was no further talk needed.

"We know General. However, I believe we need to do this to save Remnant." Ruby said. "And I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"Then you have my permission and acknowledgment. The best I can do for you all is to send you on the first airships to wherever you need to be. But I wish you all luck. May Oum guide your path forward." James finished and nodded at them. Ruby and Jaune saluted, as was their custom when dismissed.

After leaving, Ruby let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she held. "That went .. okay."

Jaune was first to speak. "We're getting no support. But I think we already had an idea that might've been the case."

The group nodded.

"So, who goes with whom then?" Weiss said. Immediately Neo stuck up her hand and pointed to Weiss and herself.

"I'm going to Menagerie first. I know that the main group of the White Fang houses there. I think it's best for Yang to come with me." Blake said.

"Oh yeah, Menagerie! I'll pack my bikini." Yang joked with a grin.

"Me and Jaune will try and track down the remaining Maidens then. Are you guys sure that you're going to be okay?"

"Positive. I might have a heatstroke from the desert, but I'm sure I'll be fine with enough sunscreen." Weiss said.

"We'll be fine in Menagerie. I know my way around." Blake said. "All I have to do is keep Yang in check."

"Pfft, as if." Yang said, smiling at them.

"Alright, Let's get packing then." Ruby ended, smiling at Yang's words.

* * *

The departure was heavy. Even though the air had been joking and fun before the packing, after the packing the idea of it all settled in. They'd be on their own. Weiss had immediately said, 'We're hunters, it's what we do.' but there was this uneasy air of uncertainty about all of them. Their departing hugs were tight and sometimes long with warnings and promises about staying safe mostly to Ruby and Jaune. Ruby wished she could say she'd be fine, but honestly everything was up in the air now. With a deep breath, she stepped aboard the airship.

"You okay?" Jaune immediately asked. They both knew he didn't need to ask, but Ruby knew that they needed to talk about it.

"In all the times I've been an Atlas specialist, this is the second time I've ever been scared or nervous before." Ruby said as she sat down.

Jaune sat down across from her and hummed in agreement. "I know what you mean. But at the same time, to me, it's exciting. We're all on our own regarding this, but what we're doing is right." he said, looking his girlfriend in the eyes. "We'll be fine. We'll be able to convince the Maidens and we'll defeat Salem, Ruby. Although the road to get there will be hard, we'll be fine."

"I really hope you're right Jaune. For everyone's sake."

* * *

The airship was fast enough that the flight towards the harbor of Vale wasn't long. After that, it'd be a long time until they'd be in Atlas by boat since it was all hands on deck for transportation to and from Vale by air. Trying to get onto the ship proved far more difficult than initially thought. Between the press and fans there were people outraged that they hadn't prevented Haven's destruction and those desperate to hear from their friends or family. Jaune and Ruby couldn't answer them naturally and were quick to get on the boat. Sighing breaths of relief as they got to their hut, they both stumbled inside, dropping their bags. Ruby was quick to faceplant onto the bed with Jaune dropping down in a chair.

"Well, that was something.." Jaune started. Ruby only groaned in acknowledgment.

They let it settle with a silence.

"Things are probably going to be the same in Atlas." Ruby said. Jaune hummed in agreement.

"Can't really blame them, can we?" Jaune said a bit haughtily, although they both knew exactly what the people at the harbor felt like. They wanted an answer to something that didn't have an answer to them. And they wanted to know their loved ones were safe.

"Hey Ruby. Could I ask a question about.. _that_ day?" Jaune said.

Ruby turned around and sat up. "Ehm. Sure. But I want to ask you a question as well then. Also, first I want to get out of this Oum-darned armor." Ruby said before unclasping the armored plates and throwing them unceremoniously to the floor with heavy thuds. Jaune laughed at her as he too unclasped his armor although was more careful with it, stacking it onto the chair before moving over to the empty side of the bed.

As Jaune settled, Ruby finished leaving her in just her underwear and a top as she snuck under the covers next to Jaune. Immediately she put her head on his chest as he put his arm around her, softly caressing her back.

"So, what'd you want to ask?" Ruby said softly, looking up at him affectionately.

"After the battle, you all got separated. Weiss went back to Atlas, Yang stayed at home and Blake went.. Elsewhere." Jaune started before looking at her questioningly. "Why?"

Ruby mulled over the question in her mind a bit. "I think in a way we never did, but all took to processing the grief in a different manner. Me, I went with you because if I stopped, if I took a break from my goal, I wouldn't be here today. I'd be betraying the promise I made to myself. I can't answer for the others, but I have a guess."

"I know Weiss left not of her own accord but had no idea where I was. Even if she had forged her own way earlier, I don't know which way she could've turned. In my mind, she endured knowing one day sooner or later one of our team would show up again."

"Yang was broken when I left. I know dad tried to help her a lot, and well, she was still a bit broken when we came back. However, I think that has much to do with the way how everyone in her life has left her in her moment of need. But I had to because I couldn't help her and she knows that. Still it makes me feel kind of guilty."

"Blake, from what I know, was ashamed. She felt it was her fault Yang was like that and she tried to run away from anyone close to her as much she could. She chose loneliness over the chance of someone getting hurt. In the end, it didn't end up mattering. But I think she never quite realized how much she actually needs people and how much people need her."

Jaune looked pensive for a moment.

"Why did you want to know?" Ruby asked, some worry in her voice

"Because me, Ren and Nora stuck together after .. Pyrrha died. It wasn't until you joined our little group that things really changed. I don't know, it was just a random thought that occured to me." Jaune said.

"Then why did you stick together?"

"I.. don't know. Because it felt natural? Because I felt the need to keep what was left of my team together after Pyrrha's death? Because I didn't want to feel alone, knowing that she never knew. That I never knew." Jaune said, running a hand through his hair. Ruby felt a bit of guilt creep up on her, she didn't mean for him to get upset thinking back on memories. Thinking it wasn't a sore spot still would've been naive.

"But then you came along and I don't know. Even though you had lost your entire team, you decided that you wanted to come with us. To do something. And then you brought me along to Atlas. I didn't feel alone anymore because I had you. At first as friend, a companion. Then as something much more. Almost like it was meant to be."

Ruby's breath hitched as he spoke those words. Slowly her fingers intertwined with Jaune's, whom rubbed her hand with his thumb. "I'm sorry I didn't know." Ruby said.

Jaune chuckled a little at that to Ruby's surprise. "Ruby, what I'm saying is, I guess, thank you. If it hadn't been you, I don't know what I would be doing or where I'd be. Right now, I'm on my way to find someone to help us save the world. And I'm laying in bed with the person I love. Never in my wildest dreams during my time at Beacon would I think that. Yet, here we are."

Ruby felt a lump in her throat and couldn't voice any words. _Right then,_ Ruby decided, _actions it is._ Quickly she straddled Jaune and kissed him deeply. It was a kiss of need, want, passion and understanding. She put her arms around him, holding him tighter into their kiss. Jaune simply placed his hands at her hips as he let the moment continue.

After a minute, they separated, heavy breaths saying more than words ever could.

"It's still daylight out." Jaune said. Ruby laid her head on Jaune's chest, listening to his rhythmic, although now slightly faster, heartbeat.

"Then let's just lay here and rest as much as we can. I have no doubt in my mind that we'll need all the energy if we're to find the Winter Maiden."


	31. Chapter 31: Setbacks

**Betcha didn't expect this now didcha? Okay. Stopping that, forever. Either way, I finally figured out what I wanted to do with this... 'pseudo-arc' and boy do I like it. As such, this chapter was written in 2 hours. Sometimes the juices just flow and I know what I want to do.**

 **I'll talk a bit more about the chapter after it's ended because there are a few things I want to mention. But I'll get to that.**

 **Before I forget, thank you kyrogue23 for the review, but, uhh, they're always kind of a summation of the chapter. I mean, I'm genuinely impressed with how well you summarize it every time which to me is like a gosh-darn miracle (lord knows I suck at telling things succinctly, as evident by my AN's.), but, uhh, I'd love to know what you actually think of the story.**

 **Anyways, I want to keep the ramblies here short. So I am going to. Enjoy Chapter 31: Setbacks**

* * *

Chapter 31: Setbacks

During their boat ride, Jaune and Ruby were finally to get some sufficient rest. When they were together, they mostly talk, cuddled or just slept. Ruby spent sufficient time servicing her other love, Crescent Rose, to make sure it'd function to peak performance. Jaune had laughed as she had spent three full days on fixing it and he returned to her covered in grease every time. Meanwhile, his weapon hadn't needed much maintenance because it used only his aura. No gunpowder or Dust that could clog it, although Jaune did have to get the dents out of his armor.

As they neared the harbor, the both of them packed up once again, they looked as the iced cliffs of Atlas harbor came into view. It was positively alive as airships from all sorts of different levels of the Atlesian Military came and went. Even one of the few 'Titan' class airships the Atlesian Military had departed undoubtedly on its way to Mistral or Vale.

"No place like temporary temporary home?" Jaune remarked in a questioning tone. Ruby just hummed next to him as she was deeply in thought. In the distance, Mouth Lyth was clearly in view. _Climbing it, even with me and Jaune, will probably take a few days._ Ruby thought, already thinking of a plan on how to get there.

"Already thinking about climbing Lyth?" Jaune asked.

"Yeah. The file they had on the Winter Maiden said she'd be on Mount Lyth. So I guess that's the best place to start looking." Ruby said, sighing.

"If it's any consolation, I've helped a small town further up the mountain once after a Deathstalker broke their barricades. I'm sure we'd be able to stage there first before we make the final climb to the last part." Jaune said, flexing his fingers making each of them pop. Both were fully dressed in their armor again, as was expected of them during 'duty'. In Atlas, there were quite strict rules regarding military uniforms. While Jaune and Ruby had taken some liberties, their armor still also showed their rank and as such was expected to be worn during most if not all events.

As the boat slowly drifted into the harbor and connected to the port itself, Ruby instantly felt a shiver run up her back. Something was off, but she couldn't place it. It was as if she was being hunted already, but looking around she could see nothing.

"You okay?" Jaune asked. Ruby looked at him warily. Jaune knew that look and readied himself just in case and nodded at her. As they continued through the military checkpoint, they were immediately hailed.

"Ms. Rose? Mr. Arc?" a white-haired man, or rather more teenager, asked them.

Ruby looked at him curiously before answering. "Yes?"

"My name is Whitley Schnee. I'm the heir to the Schnee Dust Company." he said. Ruby immediately felt disgust rise. "I'm here to bring you to my father. He wishes to speak to you both."

Ruby faked a smile to him. "Well, _Whitley_ Schnee, tell him this from me, Jaune and a friend of mine you might perhaps know."

Whitley gulped.

"Tell him that his slimy, villainous, hateful practices are not well regarded and that I will not listen to a word he says. I answer only to General Ironwood and will have no further dealings with the Schnee Dust Company for what you've done to Weiss." Ruby said, staring Whitley down as she did. "Now if you'll excuse me, Jaune and I have to find someone in order to fix this mess of a world, and you're not helping.".

Jaune chuckled as the both of them walked away, Ruby huffing in anger at the arrogance displayed.

"Ms. Rose, Mr. Arc, I do very much implore you to come with me. I do suspect in some way our goals align. If not those of my father, it will be those of myself." Whitley retorted. "It might also be very important to share with you the fact that the both of you are not currently well regarded in the Council of Atlas and as such your trustworthiness is being questioned by it. Perhaps to stay in the good graces of the Council, it might be wise to do listen to them."

Ruby stopped. "Why is the Council involved in this?" she asked, clearly confused.

"You are supposed to be the champions of Remnant, yet you were, and I say this from their perspective, unable to defend Mistral from annihilation. Surely you must see the implications that forms on the spotless record of the two specialists from Vale who came here to become legends and save Remnant." Whitely continued, his expression neutral.

This time, it was Jaune who reacted in anger and disbelief. "Are you saying they're blaming us for what happened in Haven?" he shouted.

"Blame is a harsh word. But put simply, yes. They attribute the destruction of Haven to your failure to defend it alongside Haven's own defensive squad." Whitley said.

Ruby felt her rage boil over. In a way she thought it was funny, it was like Yang must've felt when something just didn't sit right. But this injustice was ridiculous beyond measure. In a flash, she was next to Whitley and held him up by the perfectly pressed shirt.

"Listen to me. Haven was the second time I saw a town destroyed but this time it was done on such a scale that it was irrecoverable unlike Beacon. I saw millions of people lose their lives as they defended their homeland." Ruby said, clearly seething in anger. "I murdered a legion worth of Grimm including three Dragons. But still you try to play this as if it was our fault?"

Whitley held his hands up. "You are misconstruing my words. _I_ do not think so. _The Council_ thinks so. I know very well of the true nature of your actions in Mistral which can only be described as heroic. But they must have someone to blame for losing one of their most important allies. So if you'd please release me, I'd be willing to tell you how to convince them otherwise."

Ruby let him go, sending him stumbling to the ground. "Thank you." he said with slight sarcasm in his tone. "Now, Father has planned to talk to the both of you and organize a .. 'high profile' beneficiary event in order to raise funds for the revalidation of Mistral as had been done for Vale. His plan is to have the both of you be there to be either the scapegoats or the heroes you're painted to be. As such he can try and take away power from General Ironwood or garner more good graces and as such influence within the council. For him, it'll be a win-win situation. For you, a coin flip as to what he'll do."

Jaune had now joined them as Whitley continued. "However, I am willing to help spin it more towards the narrative that you're heroes that rushed into 'the valley of death, fearing no evil' and came out largely unscathed. Of course I can't do this out in the open, however I'm already trying to influence my father to present you as heroes."

"Alright. But that still doesn't mean you're taking a lot of time away from us." Jaune remarked. Whitley nodded.

"You're correct Mr. Arc. However, my father is a very influential man. Being in his good graces offers many boons to one or in this case, two." Whitley remarked.

"This still doesn't explain why you're doing it however." Ruby said, crossing her arms.

"Although my sisters and I do not share the best of bonds, I have never actively acted against them. Not with Winter's doubtful choices and not with Weiss' sudden departure. However, I know of you, Ms. Rose, being Weiss' partnered during your time at Beacon. As such, and knowing my sister to be the person she is, I have reason to trust you more than my own father at this current time as she trusted you enough to come to Vale and look for you. And I also know that I must do everything in my power to help you if Weiss has decided to forge her own path alongside you two and your friends." Whitley said.

"Your sister? But she was disowned." Jaune remarked, peering his eyes at him.

"Again, We do not share the best of bonds, but we're still blood. I am willing to see that even if my father won't." Whitley retorted with a tone of annoyance.

"Okay then. What's the plan?" Ruby asked after, still hesitant to trust the well-spoken boy.

"Simple. You attend the beneficiary, you talk about the experiences you've had and as such appease the Council and my father." Whitley finished.

"And that'll be it?" Jaune asked again.

"Yes. However, I will tell you now that if you do this well enough, you will not leave empty handed." Whitley said.

"We don't need money. Especially not from a beneficiary event." Ruby remarked sharply.

"Ms. Rose, I was not talking about money. I was talking about information. If my sources are correct and I have reason to believe they are, you are a Maiden of Summer, a legendary gifted warrior blessed with the power to control wind as they defend against the Grimm." Whitley said. Ruby didn't react, she had expected the story to spread by now.

"However, that also means the other Maidens exist. And the reason you're here can only be to find them as else you'd be fighting to defeat whoever did this." Whitley continued.

Ruby replied in a deadpan tone. "What makes you think they're not here?".

"Simple. If they were, I'd have known by now. You underestimate the power of influence Ms. Rose but I don't blame you for that. So I presume you're looking for another Maiden." Whitley finished in his almost matter-of-factly tone.

"Theoretically if we were, what of it. What is it to you?" Jaune said.

"Well Mr Arc, Ms. Rose, I stated before that my father is a very influential man. That means he also is quite knowledgable about what happens within the Kingdom" Whitley said, his perfect posture finally breaking through to show a smug grin. "I said my father could provide you with information. I am going to be more specific now."

"I have reason to believe he knows exactly where the Maiden of Winter is."

* * *

Hesitantly both Ruby and Jaune had stepped into the limousine with the Schnee symbol on it and were driven to the Schnee Mansion. "What happens to us if your plan fails? There is a lot riding on it." Jaune said, fumbling with his hands, somewhat anxious. Although he wasn't the same social awkward person he used to be, he still felt disconnected from the higher echelons of society that Atlas very clearly had. Ruby felt very much the same kept twirling one of her dust rounds around to curb her anxiety.

"It won't. Trust me if I say I wouldn't have approached you with the news if I hadn't thought of a way to help you. Preparation is half the plan, so the saying goes." Whitley said as he looked out the window.

"I presume we must dress up? I doubt our armor will hardly be appropriate in such a setting?" Ruby asked, already not liking the prospect of having to be forced to wear a dress. When she had gone out with Jaune it had been… different. Special. Now, it felt as if she was truly pretending, smiling and waving as if she would be put on display.

"Yes. Although with some help I have some items that should be suitable to your wishes. Again, I'm trying to help, not control you. It's unfortunate that these measures have to be taken however my father can be quite.. _Strong-willed_." Whitley sighed.

"You mean he's an arrogant selfish idiot, right?" Ruby said.

A silence hung in the air before Whitley broke it with a chuckle. "Ms Rose. You'd be surprised you don't even know the half of it."

* * *

After they had arrived at the mansion it was clear that they had already prepared days in advance for the beneficiary. This was indeed clearly not a spur of the moment decision and was thought up during their travel time to Atlas. As Ruby and Jaune followed Whitley inside they could hear a clap reverberate along the marbled walls and pillars, it almost booming like a gunshot.

"Ah, our venerable guests. Mr. Arc and Ms. Rose. I was expecting you earlier." Jacques said, a hint of annoyance in his tone as he threw a sideways glare towards Whitley whom didn't flinch. "The name's Jacques Schnee. Please call me Mr. Schnee."

Ruby decided to play along and attempt to appease him. "Thank you Mr. Schnee for the invite. Unfortunately our lateness was due to problems getting through the checkpoint. My weapon requires a lot of maintenance to function properly and as such I carry much replacement parts with me. Turns out that the Atlesian Military had forgotten about my rank and as such continued their duties as normal."

"Ah. Well. It could happen to anyone." Jacques said in a tone that told them he didn't believe them. Jacques nodded a little beyond them as the driver from before was now in a butler outfit and stepped forwards. "Klein here will take you to the guest room. For as long as you stay here you may use it, within decency of course. For now, I will have to speak with Whitley in private as we prepare for tonight's event. Do prepare appropriately, Whitley should have provided you with ample clothes for such."

As Jacques forced a smile, it was clear it quickly faded as he walked up the stairs again with Whitley following in tow.

"This way please, Ms. Rose, Mr. Arc." Klein said as he continued down the hall of the mansion. As Ruby looked around, she felt small. _Incredibly_ small. She couldn't even imagine how it must've been to grow up her, much less with how very clear it was what kind of a person her father was. She was shaken from her thoughts by Klein asking a question.

"How is Weiss doing?" Klein asked, his voice calm although hopeful. "I know she left to find you, but you came here alone. Is she well?"

"She is doing well. Right now, she's on her way to Vacuo." Ruby said. Jaune looked in awe around them and at the armors that were in the hallway.

"I'm glad to hear. I've been worried for her." Klein said before the silence stayed once again. In these grand halls, it hung even heavier. Ruby and Jaune had felt they had been walking for a good minute or two down the hallway before Klein stopped and opened a door, wide enough for both the Hunter and Huntress to enter.

Ruby couldn't believe what she saw. _This must be the fanciest room I've ever seen and I think this still doesn't top what's in this place._ "If things are not in order, please do call for me, I'll be willing to assist you in any way I can. Oh, and give Ms. Schnee my regards next time you speak to her please. It'd mean alot to an old butler." Klein said before departing.

"This place.." Jaune started. "Is ridiculous."

"You're telling me. Now I get why Weiss is the way she is. This place is a castle." Ruby breathed in awe.

"Anyways, considering we're here to convince some people and not guffaw, I'd say we get ready for it." Jaune said before zipping open his bag and undoing his armor and weapon to place in it. Ruby followed him in undressing and opened what she assumed to be the wardrobe. In it hung dresses and suits ranging in a variety of colors, patterns, models and styles from very simple to well cut on the suits and from quite simply designed to very revealing.

"What in Oum's name have we gotten ourselves into Jaune." Ruby breathed as she looked through, her stomach fluttering as she went through the dresses in order to find one she might like.

"Not a clue, but it feels like I'm a stranger in a strange land." Jaune said, taking what looked to be a very business oriented suit from it, before putting it back and taking something navy blue out from it.

"You know, it feels like the dance. Where you came in a dress?" Ruby said before grabbing a scarlet dress. _Of course it'd be scarlet_ , she thought to herself laughing at the irony inward.

"How could I forget. I was in a dress." Jaune said, putting on the dark navy suits' pants.

"I know you killed the dance floor with your team then." Ruby said, putting on her dress. It was quite long, almost as long as the armored skirt she wore nowadays. It split at the side halfway down her thigh, giving her enough ability to move around. The upper part of the dress from her chest to her neck was covered in a more sheer material embroidered in dark red lace. Ruby swore she saw roses in the pattern but looking at it more closely she could see she was wrong.

"Wow. It's almost like that was made for you." Jaune said before putting on his vest over the shirt. He then held up a tie and held it to his neck. "Tie, no tie?"

Ruby smiled at him before walking over to him with soft taps of her feet on the marbled floor. She took the tie and compared again before unfolding it and throwing it around his neck and tying it for him.

"And yes. We did kill the dance floor. I never told you we had practiced all the time for that after you guys had the idea, right?" Jaune said as Ruby focussed on tying his tie.

"Really? I thought it was like some kind of team synergy thing, like it came naturally. I mean, you're a great dancer and I know Ren's a big fan of it too, although mostly using those arcade games." Ruby said as she finished tying it.

"Yeah. Still didn't mean we didn't have to practice. In all honesty, it was Pyrrha then who had a little trouble at first, but she was always a quick learner. So, you know. Yeah." Jaune said before scratching the back of his head and looking away. Ruby immediately knew he was thinking of the past again. He had done it a few times before on the boat and she knew sometimes he just needed some time to himself. After all that had happened, she figured some old wounds reopened. Oum know it happened to her.

She took hold of Jaune's chin to make him look at her before giving him a loving kiss. They stood there, their heartbeats and the kiss itself the only thing mattering at that moment. As Ruby detached after what seemed an eternity to them, she looked into his eyes. They spoke the words he needed. _You're not alone in this._

Jaune smiled back at her and nodded. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Just making sure you know." Ruby said before pecking him on the lips again before walking back to the wardrobe to find shoes. She had hoped for flats that would be good enough, but all there were was heels. Sighing, she put a fitting pair on that actually didn't feel as uncomfortable as she thought. Remembering Whitley's words, she decided to take a step extra and do her hair and maybe some makeup. Grabbing her toiletries, she made her way towards the bathroom to find what she thought was the largest bathroom she'd ever seen. Shaking her head at it's, to her, almost comical size, she continued to prepare herself.

It didn't take long before there was a rap on the door to the guest room. "It's Whitley. I need to speak with the both of you."

Jaune opened, standing ready. Whitley looked him over and hummed in approval. "If I hadn't known better, I might've guessed you would've been some rich fellows' son. Don't ask me whether that's a compliment or not.".

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Where's Ms. Rose?" Whitley immediately asked.

As Ruby finished up, she stepped outside the bathroom. She had done her job best she could, even tried to make it even fancier using some techniques she remembered Weiss teaching her. Jaune looked pleasantly surprised and almost awestruck as both his eyebrows were raised in disbelief at her looks. Whitley only smiled at her. Ruby though she could almost see the same look Weiss gave her whenever she was impressed with Ruby.

"While the plans have changed and the event will start sooner than I had intended, I doubt my concerns were founded." Whitley began. "I do have one question however."

Ruby tried to reply nonchalantly. "Ask away.".

"Weiss?"

Ruby smiled. "Weiss.".

In that moment, her confidence for the plan was reinvigorated. "Well, let's not keep our guests waiting. Or rather, let's not waste any more of both your time." Whitley said before motioning the both of them through the door.

* * *

 **Remember that end thing I wanted to mention? Hello! o/**

 **Okay, jokes aside, I found that trying to balance two parallel storylines was already quite tough. Now I technically have three. So what I'm doing is focusing on each arc separately. So for know I'm going to stick with Ruby and Jaune whereas later I will talk more about the character development of Blake and Yang in Menagerie and Weiss and Neo in Vacuo. How I'm going to do that and how much time I'm spending on it, I have no idea yet. But that's the way I want it to work since Ruby and Jaune have been somewhat neglected in fluff after everything went to shit and there's a lot going to happen with them.**

 **Also, I don't believe Whitley is a bad guy. He's just a little shit (excuse-moi for the language) whom was groomed a little too hard by his father to become like him. I know that people change as they become older and I think Whitley is a much more "I will use all the resources I can get in order to get to what I believe is supposed to be." type of character, that's just my personal opinion which very well could be proven very much wrong. I do not proclaim I know what the hell's going on in the heads of Kerry and Miles. Although, Hiatus time is already making me itch. Anyways, until next time.**


	32. Chapter 32: Playing Pretend

**When life kicks you in the dick and builds a wall that you have to pay for, all you can do is deal with it the best way you can. So I did. Sorry for being gone (again) but wow have things gone haywire. First of all; Yes I've been gone for nearly 6 months. My bad, my bad. A new semester started and the goal was this being my last 'real' one before I start graduation. I'm happy to say it went really well but has taken a lot of my time to get that far. Aside from that, I've recently started a job as a full-stack web developer at a games company so that's been taking some time to deal with and in the meantime I've been trying to deal with my nearly 8 year relationship almost going down on the rocks (It's going better now, but we're working on it.). So needless to say life's been hectic.**

 **Having said that, this is a new year and a new chance to complete this fic. While I'm still running into writer's blocks (Which are currently happening because of RWBY Season 5 being omg nuh my fanfic but dear jesus what the fuck Miles and Kerry) I'm still going to aim at this year. So stay posted for that. This chapter, I will admit, is not my 'best' work, but was needed to get the story underway again. There's a lot of things, looking back, that I don't like which I want to improve but won't for the sake of trying to keep the story rolling and actually finishing it. There's a few plotbunnies running around that need to get shot the hell down as my friend VulpusElunal would put it. (quick btw; if you are interested in League of Legends fanfiction, check out 'A Boy and his Fox: Redux. It's basically his best story being rewritten with all the writing experience he's got now and it's absolutely amazing)**

 **Regarding Atonement, I'm not sure when I'll be updating that. I'm unsure what pace I want to take with the story and where to go with it in the end. It's a brutal story as it's planned right now and I'm fairly certain it's not going to tickle many people's fancy and it might be a little too emo. We'll see.**

 **So for reviews (jesus people still read this thing after almost 6 months of no updates? WHAT!)**

 **Guest - Well, look at it like this; Jaune is still just a guy with Aura. He has a super powerful one and a large supply, but he's still more or less 'human'. As for Ruby's Silver eyes. Well, I've so far kind of explained it as a side-effect of the maiden's power. I like to balance power a little.**

 **dandyrr0403 - Oh my gosh thank you for the nice words! Honestly, your review made me feel guilty I hadn't touched it in a while so I decided to finish this chapter since I was busy with RWBY again anyway.**

 **Oh, yeah, additional note after watching most of Season 5: HOLY CRAP IS THIS STORY NON-CANON. LIKE. NONE OF MY PLOTPOINTS MAKE SENSE ANYMORE. AND NOT JAUNE'S SEMBLANCE. FUCK.**

 **Before you read I'd still like to wish you a Happy 2018. I belief firmly in keep moving forward, so this year, let's keep improving, watching, learning and creating to honor that.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 32: Playing Pretend**

* * *

Chapter 32: Playing Pretend

Ruby and Jaune followed Whitley back through the hallways. Ruby glanced through the windows to see many cars lined up before the estate and sometimes almost immaculate private airships dropping people of probably high standing off. It didn't help looking so she turned away as she tried to calm herself again.

As they continued down the hallway, Whitley stopped before the door Ruby remembered to be connecting to the main hall. "I must, for the largest part, stay alongside my father's side. While I suspect him to have you two near at all times in order to make up his mind regarding how he will, for lack of better terms, present you, it's best to play into his hand. Flattery works well, but don't overdo it. Criticism regarding him or the Schnee Dust Company is sure to lay waste to our opportunity here. Furthermore, I suggest you to enjoy yourselves. While you are in a sense prisoners of misfortune right now, I assure you that the information will be worth quite a lot."

"Wait. You know more about it?" Jaune asked quickly.

"Nothing conclusive. But I am certain my father is willing to share after the beneficiary." Whitley said. Both Jaune and Ruby glanced at each other, not fully trusting his words but taking them either way.

"Well, let's introduce the guests to the main event." Whitley said before opening the set of double doors. As the flow of people continued, they found Jacques Schnee greeting many of the people as they entered with much of the staff guiding them towards the hallway opposite of where Ruby and Jaunes' guest room was.

"Follow my lead." Whitley said one last time as he stepped towards his father and joined him in greeting the elite of Atlas.

"Ah, Ms. Rose, Mr. Arc. I see you've cleaned up nicely. If I hadn't known better, I would've bet that you were here as simple guests." Jacques said with a smile, although his eyes spoke of a genuine impression and yet a warning.

"Thank you Mr. Schnee. It is a .. _welcome_ change from our military clothing." Ruby said, smiling as she did so.

"I am sure it is. Now our hopeful and potential donors are quite eager to meet the Legends in the flesh, I'm sure. So please, join me into welcoming them." Mr. Schnee suggested, although again his eyes spoke of more, of a command.

"We sure will, Mr. Schnee." Jaune said with a smile, but returning his glance with a determination. They wouldn't be bullied into submission by a slimeball like him.

* * *

It still amazed Ruby how large the mansion actually was. The ballroom felt even larger so. All around her, she heard small talk about the daily struggles of the upper echelons of Atlesian society. A drink gave her a way to break the fake smile she wore in order to appease people, not understanding the plights of _not being able to find the right shoes._ It almost sounded like she was listening to Weiss's whining when she had first arrived to Beacon.

Jaune had since been 'stolen' away by a man that had asked questions about his armor and his ability to use his aura to fire his weapon, leaving Ruby by herself next to Jacques and Whitley.

"Right, Ms. Rose?" a man whose name Ruby had forgotten asked. Ruby blinked at him and the others as they expected her answer. Whitley nodded in the most subtle way he could at her and she cleared her throat.

"Yes." Ruby said succinctly and taking a sip of her drink. The champagne didn't taste all too good, a little too bitter for her tastes. She wasn't a heavy drinker either way, only the _yearly_ glass of wine, which had already been one or two too many over the course of the year so far. However, Whitley had put a glass in her hand as they proposed a toast to the event.

"See, even the one that was there said so. Mistral's defenses couldn't have ever hold a Grimm attack of such a size. I think most of us have seen the vids, Vale's attack was one Dragon. This was three, which she took down single-handedly."

"Archibald, I don't think you're listening to the argument I'm making. I don't see how we're at fault for their failure at the defense of their city." Jacques said. "And I suppose it's only fair to ask that as well. It's not the duty of Atlas to spend its own resources protection their allies, is it?"

Ruby pondered for a short moment. "No. I don't suppose it is." she said, immediately Jacques grinned with smug delight. "However, even then, it's unsure as to what ends our protection could even help. The attack on Beacon had a lot damage done by Atlesian mechs and ships due to them being controlled at the time."

"Are you saying the Atlesian Military is ill equipped to deal with calamities like this then? What if it would happen to Atlas itself?" Jacques immediately posed. His grin had faded and a sneer had appeared. Ruby quickly glanced at Whitley, whose face had remained neutral.

"No. I am not saying that. In fact, when was the last time there has been a report of Grimm destroying a village or anything of the sort in Atlas?" Ruby said, peering a little at Jacques.

Another man, balding and stern looking, piped up after a short moment. "Well, the last I know of would've been five months ago, a pack of beowolves and an alpha beowulf attacking a town."

"Which is the last attack I've dealt with before having to leave for Vale." Ruby said matter-of-factly. "There is no reason to tell the public of all that we do. But because of who me and Jaune are to the public, there is a high chance that that's why you know. But we are only two of the Military's specialists. So do not worry regarding the defense of Atlas. It is well taken care of. And regarding the mechs and ships, those are all in direct control of General Ironwood. Mistakes are only ever made once."

Jacques seemed taken aback by Ruby's words, slightly disgruntled that his verbal attack on Ruby's character and the Military was deflected so easily. Still, Ruby felt she needed some time away from Jacques' scrutinizing gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse me." Ruby said before nodding and taking a step away from the group towards a table with refreshments.

Sighing to herself to regain her composure a little bit, she replaced her empty glass with a new one. Apparently all they served here was wine or champagne. _Another burden of upper class I suppose,_ Ruby joked mockingly to herself. She was turned from her thoughts as a man with blue hair leaned casually on the table.

"I hadn't expected to see any roses in Atlas." the man said, grinning widely. Ruby glanced at him. She wouldn't say he was an eyesore, and he definitely already seemed quite different from the rest of the people on the event. But still she felt cautious.

"Well.. ' _Voila_ '." Ruby joked sarcastically. Even though she thought he had surely meant it as a joke, she wasn't really in the mood for it.

"Hmm, bad crowd today. Usually a joke helps to break the ice. My apologies." the man said before holding out his hand. Ruby sighed to herself. _Again the customs of the upper class._

"Henry, Marigold."

Ruby put her hand in his. "Ruby Rose."

"I know, I mean. You and Jaune are legends. Nevermind the fact that you are a Maiden."

Ruby smirked. "You almost sound like a fan."

"Well, I mean, I wouldn't put it that way. You're amazing, and I'm not just talking about your looks." Henry said. Ruby looked at him warily.

"Are you.. coming onto me?" Ruby asked, raising one eyebrow in curiosity.

"Well, if you put it like that, it seems so crass." Henry replied, rubbing the back in his neck. "But would I truly offend you if I said yes?"

"Huh." Ruby said, slightly intrigued. Briefly, she wondered about how Jaune would react to a different man flirting with her. "And what, if I may ask, would make you think I am not already spoken for?"

"I do not see a ring upon your finger and as far as I know, fraternization is prohibited within Atlesian Military, as such I can presume you are not with your fellow Legendary Hunter." Henry replied, taking a short sip from his glass.

"So is that all you do at parties like these, flirt with women?" Ruby asked.

"No. Not just any women. Only a particularly special woman will do. And if not; there is always good company at parties like these and the beverages are a plus."

Ruby hummed in amusement at him before putting down another empty glass. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll go find my _boyfriend._ "

"Wait, boyfriend?" Henry questioned quickly.

"Yes, might know him as Jaune Arc." Ruby said before flashing him a smile and walking to where she had spotted Jaune, but Whitley was quick to intercept and grabbed her arm before she moved onward.

"There will be dancing soon. Of course the honored guests are expected to dance as well. You're close, but Father is not happy about your defiance." Whitley whispered in Ruby's ear. Ruby nodded and Whitley let go as she continued on her way to Jaune.

"Ah, Ms. Rose. How kind of you to join us. Jaune here was just retelling one of the stories about one of the missions he did!" a balding man said. He didn't look to be wearing the fake mask like many seemed to do. In a way, he reminded Ruby of Professor Port.

"Ah, which story?" Ruby quickly asked. Jaune smiled and Ruby's stomach fluttered. It still surprised her the effect Jaune had upon her. She almost regretted not seeing it sooner.

"The uhh, the cave underneath the cliffside east of Atlas." Jaune said.

"Oh, the one with the cave full of Grimm Bats?" Ruby asked, Jaune nodded.

"Then you told them about.." Ruby said before trailing off as he shook his head no slowly.

"Told us about what?" another man piped up. Ruby recognized him as the man that had initially taken Jaune away. Ruby shot Jaune a mischievous smirk before speaking up.

"Well, after that mission, due to the copious amount of, well, guano, we had to have him move bunks for a while due to the fact that the guano wouldn't get out of his armor. I believe the nickname I gave you was.. "

"Please don't." Jaune groaned.

"Guano boy?" Ruby said as their company laughed at the embarrassing nickname.

"Although, you can hardly be called that anymore." Ruby said, then gave Jaune a quick peck on the lips before leaning in to whisper in his ear. "They'll want us to dance soon. Help me."

Jaune smiled as she retreated from the crook of his neck. He was a natural at dancing as was proven at Beacon's party so many years ago. It struck him then, it had been a long time since he had danced. As the laughter died down, they continued their small talk amongst themselves until a call for attention was given near the middle of the room.

"Honored guests, I do not mean to interrupt, however this is still of course a beneficiary _ball_." Jacques Schnee jested. Ruby grit her teeth. "And so, we shall commence a dance, opened by our .. Legends."

With that, the spotlight changed to shine upon both Ruby and Jaune. Both smiled nervously before Ruby took Jaune's hand as they walked to the middle of the ballroom. Jaune straightened his back and held up his hands for Ruby to take.

Ruby held his hands and nodded at Jaune. Slowly, they started the swaying dance as the music came to life. Ruby kept her gaze focussed on Jaune, letting the farce of them being there in the spotlights fade away from her mind. Now, it was just the two of them, gliding along the marbled floor.

As the music faded away, so did their small moment of peace from the dancing as the crowd swelled up with applause before the music continued as others joined. As Ruby and Jaune let go of each other's hands, they gave each other a longing look before Jaune was whisked away by a noblewoman who took his hands. Of course, they'd have to dance with others. Ruby panicked inside before it turned to anger as she turned and saw Jacques holding his hands, motioning to her with a sneer.

"A dance, Ms. Rose." he said. It wasn't a question, rather a command.

Ruby nodded at him and took his hands, letting him lead as Jaune had done in their dance. Slowly they started the dance, with both parties glaring at each other.

"I see now where _Weiss_ ' defiance has come from. Beacon was a mistake." Jacques said.

Ruby continued her glaring as they continued their dance.

"Yet, here I am trying to help you out of my own benevolence." Jacques sneered as they continued their swaying dance.

"And how benevolent you are." Ruby nearly spat. She was done with playing coy.

Jacques laughed unimpressed. "Oh yes, I know very well you might see through the disguise this event is carrying, however, you still do require something of me."

Ruby held her tongue.

"You see, allegiances have been wearing thin lately. The General knows that with failures over the years, like Beacon and Mistral, his power in the council wanes. However, I, in my good will, have decided to support the military." Jacques said. "And my.. _associates_ in the army have relayed to me you are looking for the Maidens. The Council is already on edge regarding your standing as champions. Now, with Haven destroyed, we can hardly have members of the military go on a silly goose chase to find those who doesn't want to be found anymore."

"It's such a shame that after Winter, Weiss decided to follow her sister's path and thrown away a grand future." Jacques said. "However, this might elevate her to a destiny greater than Winter's."

Ruby's glare faltered as she looked confused at Jacques.

"While I do not necessarily _like_ you Ms. Rose, it's clear that your determination will carry you. Alongside that, seeing the impact of what this threat can do to the world might realize one to see this thing as greater than one's company alone." Jacques said. "I wish to see you and Mr. Arc in my office after the ball. I will support General Ironwood at the next Council meeting, however there is a bit of information I must share with the two of you. Privately.

As the dance stopped, he let go of her hands and hid the sneer he had behind the fake smile he had used all evening. Ruby was left utterly confused.

* * *

After multiple dances, the guests had started making their way out. Ruby's feet hurt and Jaune was exhausted. Many of the higher class women had experienced Jaune's dancing as Ruby had excused herself pretty early on due to feeling like she still had two left feet and sick to the stomach from having had to dance with Jacques. However, she had been a more or less silent participant of more conversations (that luckily weren't as dull or basic as she had expected).

After the event officially ended, many had attempted to get the _Legends_ to be a part of their business ventures, using them as a promotional tool. Ruby had seen Jaune clench his fists but keep a smile on his face. She remembered that it probably reminded him of Pyrrha due to the cereal boxes. She gently slid her hand in his and tightened it, giving Jaune small, knowing, smile.

Whitley quickly walked up to them. "I believe you have a due .. conversation .. with my father? If you'd please follow me."

The pair blinked once before they followed after the white-haired young man. Back through the library and the now silent white halls. Sometimes they'd see some staff, but they'd quickly disappear.

"Whitley, what the hell is going on?" Ruby asked.

"At this point, Ms. Rose, I'm fairly certain you know more than I do. And I know of nothing." Whitley quickly spoke, his voice laced with an edge of uncertainty. "Be wary and don't trust his words."

As they turned a corner, they saw the door of the office already opened. Whitley stopped and motioned the pair to it. The pair nodded to him, and walked into the office room.

"Close the door please, if you would." Jacques said, staring through the window. Idly the snow fell from the sky, blanketing the world in white.

Jaune closed the door behind him and as it clicked, Jacques turned around.

"As I've said, the General has nothing to worry about anymore. This was enough to keep the 'people of Atlas' sated in their curiosity." Jacques began. "However, I do not wish to let the two of you leave empty-handed since I've procured some of your time."

Ruby sighed. "I'd call it time wasted that we could've spent on finding the Winter Maiden."

"Ah, but what was your plan once you found her? Convince her to join you? What reason would she have?" Jacques asked.

"Because there's a war brewing? That might have the fate of the world depend on it?" Jaune said, matter of factly.

"But why would they have a stake in this war?" Jacques posed. "You see, for Atlas, there's the reason for profit, for survival. However, what reason would this person have?"

"Survival still?"

"What if they don't want to survive because all had been taken from them?" Jacques said, sitting down in the large office chair.

"Then offer them back what was taken." Ruby replied.

"Right. And that's what I'm offering you." Jacques said. "I'm offering you the leverage you'll need to get the Winter Maiden on your side."

"But.. that doesn't make any sense. Why would you have what the Winter Maiden wants? She hasn't been seen in nearly twenty years." Ruby said, kicking off her heels.

"Because the name 'Schnee' didn't simply appear from somewhere. It's a long lineage of excellent runecasters amongst the women in the family. What I built on top of the name was the company." Jacques said. "Ofcourse, we've had our mishaps, but there is a recognition with the name Schnee because it was only the finest dust they'd select and use."

"That still doesn't explain why you'd have what she'd want." Jaune questioned.

"It seems I will have to spell it out then. Fine." Jacques said and sighed.

"You see, I know what the Winter Maiden wants, because my wife is the Winter Maiden. And the sole thing that she wants most in the world is 'her girls'."


	33. Chapter 33: Ice Queen

**OOF. This was a doozy to write. Yes, I know, it's over 6000 words long. Whoops. So be ready for a ride. I'm actually quite happy with this chapter and it came very naturally. There's a bunch more things that I finally got down on paper regarding the workings of the world now that Volume 5 is actually explaining things. For now, I will be trying to work on some documentation for my studies seeing as the deadline is on Wednesday and I still need to finish three documents. But I just got so in the groove that I did not give a single f. After that I'll try to continue on my merry way with Chapter 34.**

 **Ultimate Kuuga: Yes, Jacques is a douche. But that's also mostly because of the way the character is portrayed by Miles and Kerry. He's meant to be a cold man that only married for the name and the company. I doubt he has ANY semblance of kindness in him. And thank you for your kind words!**

 **Kyrogue23: You're right regarding Whitley. In my view, Whitley is not so much a misunderstood character, but rather a reflection of what Weiss was when she came to Beacon. Of course years have gone by and Whitley hasn't been idle so the idea of him coming more to terms with the fact that he wasn't the Schnee heir but still solidifying skills and influence in another place made a lot more sense. He has his own motives now. Regarding surprises.. well.. let's just say, this is only the tip of the iceberg.**

 **allie300093: Hey! Thank you for the wishes. And things are already going a bit better. Sometimes, you need to break down in order to say what you really need to. We did that and we're working through it now.**

 **dandyrr0403: Thanks for the kind words! I know it's not _as_ surprising as Vol 5 Ep 12 but this was already planned wayyyyyyyy before Vol 5 was even airing (most of the main storyline was written in 2016, nearly two years ago). It's just a happy little coincidence. **

**GravenImage: The same as dandyrr; I know it's kind of surprising but is at the same not as surprising as Vol 5 Ep 12. I'M TRYING ALRIGHT. I'm kidding.**

 **Oh, yeah. This chapter was supposed to be online about ten hours ago.. but then fanfiction was down.. so.. Yeah. Blame them in that regard. Either way, I present you Chapter 33: Ice Queen.**

* * *

Chapter 33: Ice Queen

"Wait, hold up." Jaune said as he quickly sat down. "You're meaning to say that the person we're looking for is Weiss' mom? Why didn't she tell us then?"

"Because she doesn't know. The innate magical talents of the Schnee family are easily attributed due to the fact that the Maiden's power has been in the family for years. However, as you might know, the Maiden's were supposed to be forgotten. A myth." Jacques responded. "And _Willow_ felt very strongly that she couldn't be who she truly was. That she was cursed by her _gift_."

"So, what you might not have known, is that because of that she became more of an alcoholic throughout the years when our children were born. Up to the point where she did that handiwork on Weiss after she rebelled against her without Winter to protect her." Jacques said and sighed deeply.

"Handiwork? You mean the scar? She told me that happened because of a training exercise." Ruby said.

"Of course she did. Would you be willing to easily share the fact that your mother almost cut your eye out?" Jacques quickly spat. "After that, because of her love for both Winter, Weiss and Whitley, she decided to leave. To prevent anyone else from harm."

Ruby peered at him and crossed her arms. While what he said _sounded_ true, Ruby was sure Weiss had told the truth. Whitley was right. She and Jaune should just take whatever information they could get and try to formulate their own thoughts instead of taking his words to heart.

"So where is she now?" Jaune asked.

"Who knows. She left when Winter left for the Atlesian military and that's been about a decade ago." Jacques said. "Unfortunately, that is all the information I have available to give to you. I do hope you've enjoyed the attention of the ball tonight but I must ask you kindly to leave my office. I am still the head of a large company that needs to be ran."

Jaune stood up and made his way over to the door, but Ruby stayed, only bending down a little to grab the heels she kicked off before standing once again..

"While I despise you as a man and much less as what used to be Weiss' father, Thank you." Ruby said, before turning.

"You might do so but thanking me is useless. I used the two of you as needed and information was the reward you got for it. Consider it a .. quid-pro-quo. For tonight the two of you are allowed to stay here, but by tomorrow I urge you to continue your search. If you do catch my drift." Jacques responded, looking down at some of the paperwork on his desk.

As the door closed with a click once again the pair let out a sigh.

"Well, shit. That was hardly what I expected." Jaune said, rubbing the back of his neck as he took his tie off.

"You're telling me." Ruby responded, mulling over Jacques' words in her head.

"Did you believe him?" Jaune asked, looking at his partner questioningly.

"No. Maybe. At least not fully. I'm fairly certain that Jacques lied about the reason why she left and the cause of Weiss' scar. She told me so herself. There's no reason for her to lie about that. However it does leave us that we don't know the real reason." Ruby responded. "You know what, I'm sure we'll be able to ask her once we find her. It surprises me though that the file on the Winter Maiden is so thin then, considering it's a _Schnee._ I'm sure _Mr. Schnee_ has plenty to do with that."

"You don't even say his name anymore?" Jaune joked as they started to walk towards their guest room.

"Jaune, the man is a manipulative bastard that married for power and money. He openly admitted to using us for his own ends and just 'deemed' us worthy enough of a reward. He's a greasy slimeball that I still doubt could be Weiss' father because some of the evil he is should've trickled down and there is not an ounce of malicious intent like his in Weiss. Trust me on that." Ruby said.

"Wow, that was stuck for a while wasn't it?" Jaune responded, blinking at Ruby.

Ruby put her hands in her hair, pulling out the pins that held the hair she had so eloquently put up as she was taught how to by Weiss. "He was ready to throw us under the bus on a moment's notice. Now I can imagine even more why Weiss left."

"So.. Good news then?" Whitley said, clearing his throat.

Ruby shook her hair to get it cascading down properly again. "Good news and bad news."

"Let me guess, bad news is that you have no clue where she is?" Whitley quickly replied.

"Wait, how the heck did yo-" Jaune quickly replied looking puzzled.

"Because I suspected he was lying. Then what is the good news?" Whitley responded, his tone direct.

"Whitley. Calm down." Ruby said. "Good news is that we at least know who we're looking for."

".. Excuse me?" Whitley breathed before his eyes flitted between the pair.

"It's your mother." Ruby said with a sigh. "She's the Winter Maiden."

Whitley's face paled even more than it already had before. "Oh." was his only reply.

".. Are you okay?"

"Yes. Unexpected, but in the grand scheme of things not entirely unsurprising. However she hasn't been seen in .." Whitley replied, the edge on his tone gone and replaced by a much more unsure one.

"Nearly a decade. We know." Ruby said. "Are you sure you're okay? You're looking quite pale."

"Y-yes. I assure you, I'm fine. I will just need a glass of water.." Whitley softly said before excusing himself and walking away, his usual stern and proper demeanor shaken.

"Weiss was not exaggerating that her family was messed up.." Ruby sighed. "Speaking off, I should probably call her. If she's on her way to Vacuo, it should be .. at the start of the evening right now. She'll probably want to hear about this sooner rather than later."

"You should, but let's at least get back to the room." Jaune said. Ruby nodded as they continued their walk to their room.

* * *

Weiss sat down with a heavy sigh as she kicked off her boots and dumped the sand out of them. "Hate this freaking desert.. Ugh."

Neo popped her head around the doorframe of the bathroom in the modest hotel room and looked at her quizzically.

"Don't worry. I'm fine. I just hate sand and dry heat and definitely will need the shower after your done." Weiss said as she huffed.

Neo jokingly raised her eyebrows at Weiss before diving back into the bathroom and turning on the shower, leaving a flustered Weiss.

"Not like that you fiend!" Weiss said quickly. She knew Neo meant well, to distract her from the actual annoyances, but she still didn't quite feel comfortable with her feelings towards her yet. Rather that the feelings still felt wrong.

With a heavy sigh, Weiss fell back onto the bed and stared up at ceiling fan that lazily spun.

They'd managed to get on a cargo ship to a port fairly close by Vacuo, cutting many of the troubles of trying to get Vacuo without an airship in half. It did mean there weren't many facilities, but it was better than initially expected.

As she was thinking about their trip so far, her scroll started buzzing. Quickly she sat up and grabbed it, immediately seeing Ruby's name and quickly pressing the answer call button.

"Ruby? Everything alright?" Weiss asked.

" _Hey Weiss. Uh, yeah. Jaune and me are alright. You'll never guess where we are."_ Ruby replied.

".. Did you find her already?" Weiss asked puzzled.

" _Not quite. We're at_ the _mansion."_

"Oh." Weiss replied. A lump formed in her throat. Logically, she reminded herself she didn't care. But it still felt odd.

" _Yeah. I believe someone called Klein wanted to let you know he said hi and that he's glad you're okay. He seemed friendly. Whitley is also glad you're okay."_

Weiss scoffed and smiled a little. "Figures. Thank Klein for me and tell him not to worry about me."

" _Will do. But.. Uh.. are you sitting right now?"_

Weiss was once again confused by Ruby's words. "Yes.. Me and Neo just got into a quaint little hotel at a place I think is called Napora. We got into town a couple of hours ago. Why?"

Weiss heard a heavy sigh on the other side.

" _It's about the Winter Maiden.. Jacques told us who she is."_

".. Okay? So tell me?"

" _Alright.. Weiss. Your mom is the Winter Maiden."_

Weiss felt a chill run up her spine as she heard the words. ".. What?"

" _While I don't trust_ Jacques _at all, I'm fairly certain he was talking the truth about that part. Weiss, your mom is the Winter Maiden. I thought you deserved to know."._

Weiss felt sick to the stomach. The relationship between her parents had been strained as they had continuously fought over the years because of her father's cold attitude and her mother's alcoholism. Weiss knew her mother cared a lot about Winter, Whitley and herself, but Weiss hadn't understood why she had left at the time.

" _You okay? I'm sorry. This is something big I'm dropping on you right now."._

"I'm.. not okay. But I do appreciate you telling me Ruby. I .. I'll have to give it some time I think. To really let it sink in. Uh.." Weiss said nearly absent-minded. "So.. what's the plan for you guys then? Find her still?"

" _I mean, yeah. It's just.. A bit weirder but easier at the same time I guess."_

"Ruby? Could you do me a favour once you find her?" Weiss said, her voice shaking.

" _Sure. Anything, Weiss."_

Weiss breathed in deep, calming down and keeping the tears at bay before speaking again "Tell her I love her and that I'm sorry."

" _I will. Again; sorry that I have to say it this way but I thought you had to know."_

"Don't worry Ruby. I really do appreciate it. Thanks for telling me."

" _Alright.. Uh.. Well. It's late here and we should be going to bed since tomorrow morning we're trying to leave as soon as we can."_ Ruby said " _Call me if you need to talk okay."_

"Alright. I will." Weiss said. As the dial tone sounded, Weiss sighed deeply and put her face in her hands as she tried to make sense of what she was just told. Surely she would have recognized if her mother had been the Maiden? It did explain the more magical nature of her family's semblance, but that was the only thing that made sense at all to Weiss.

Weiss was shaken from her thoughts by a warmth hugging her from behind and looked over her shoulder. Neo wore a compassionate smile as she leaned her head against Weiss' back. In her thinking, Weiss hadn't heard the smaller mute woman leave the bathroom. But she didn't mind, she appreciated the gesture.

"Thanks Neo." Weiss said, settling her thoughts. Whatever questions she had, she would ask her mother once she'd see her again.

* * *

As morning came, Jaune and Ruby wasted no time packing up. Time still was of the essence with the threat of Salem looming over them like a bad dream. The both of them donned their armor and finished packing their bags. Opening the door, they were immediately face to face with Whitley.

"Follow me." he said as he walked down the hallway.

Both of them looked confused for a moment before following after the young man.

"I managed to be able to get you two transport to wherever you need to be in Atlas. Since time is of course of the essence." Whitley said, continuing to walk down a hallway before making a sharp turn down a smaller corridor.

"Uh.. Thanks Whitley.. But what for?" Jaune said, adjusting the straps of his bag.

"You're going after the Maiden's, I'm guessing you're not the only party interested in them anymore. My father may think me ignorant in what goes on in the council of Atlas, but trust me when I say that I'm well aware of the state of the world and how Atlas has approached it thus far. Mistral was a rude awakening to be sure, but the signs were there long before with the White Fang being the way it was." Whitley continued as they walked up to a heavy looking door and he typed in a code quite quickly. "And if my mother is able to help the world in any way and you need only to find her, I will try to help the best way I can by offering whatever I can. In this case; transport."

As the doors opened, the snow blasted them with the heavy jets of the airship roaring to life. "The pilot assured me they'd be able to take you anywhere, regardless of conditions." Whitley said, stepping out onto the landing pad.

The airship bore a icy-blue Schnee family emblem and nearly blended into the snow from it's white coloring. It looked much more modern than the regular airships and seemed to be optimized for speed and luxury instead of space. It was clear to Ruby that this was one of the family's own airships.

"Thank you again, Whitley. We really appreciate it." Ruby said earnestly, holding out a hand for Whitley to shake. He took it and shaked it firmly before shaking Jaune's as well.

"No need to thank me. Now go, before my father notices that one of the airships has gone." Whitley said.

Rapidly Ruby and Jaune walked towards the airship, the doors opening exactly as they were close enough to get in and closing immediately after they'd entered.

"Destination" a stern, but somewhere familiar, womanly voice said.

"As close to Mount Lyht as you can get us." Ruby said, holding onto one of the handlebars.

"How fast?" the voice asked again, initiating the take off sequence.

"As fast as you can." Ruby replied again.

With a chuckle the voice responded. "Strap in. Time of arrival, two minutes and fifty-nine seconds."

"That's awfully specfi-ic!" Jaune said before being slammed into one of the seats by the acceleration of the airship as Ruby just barely managed to hold on. Both of them quickly sat down in the luxurious leather seats.

Immediately the pair started checking their weaponry, making sure they were ready to fight if needed. There was a reason that Atlas themselves had stopped trying to find Willow and it had to do much with the fact that she was very powerful and had managed to thwart any attempts. Regardless of their intentions, it wouldn't be easy getting through to the Schnee matron.

As Ruby finished up checking the entirety of Crescent Rose and giving a few bolts additional tightening to make sure her other love was in peak condition, the voice came through again. "Fifteen seconds until arrival."

"You ready?" Jaune asked, smiling at his partner.

Ruby smiled back. "Born ready." she said and stood up before moving to the doors with Jaune following her.

The timing of the pilot was impeccable. In her mind she hadn't counted, but it must have been exactly fifteen seconds from announcement to the door opening, the heavy mountain winds spraying snow in the pair's faces.

"I can't stay here for long, get out now. Contact Mr. Whitley if you require me again." the voice said. Quickly the pair stepped out and immediately the doors closed after them, the airship making its way back down the mountain. Right before them stood an imposing wall of ice shards both dulled and sharp. Jaune pulled out his shield, extending it to shield the both of them from the snow.

"My best guess, go to the icy wall of death!" Jaune shouted over the winds to Ruby as he started moving towards the wall.

Ruby nodded, grabbing Crescent Rose and extending it fully to it's Scythe form. With slow, determined steps the pair got closer and closer to spiky part of the wall. With a pair of bashes, the spikes started breaking down, letting them get closer and closer to the wall.

"You got an idea how to get in this!?" Jaune shouted.

"Yes!" Ruby shouted back. "Step aside for a moment!"

Jaune stepped aside like she'd asked and Ruby focused on her inner power, the edge of her weapon glowing white as she cut a pathway straight through the thick part of the wall. Confident with the way she'd sliced it thus far, she put the barrel of Crescent Rose against the center of the ice and fired, the force of the movement round forcing the ice inward resounding in a heavy crash, giving them a hole to move through. Quickly the pair moved through it, revealing a ice-sculpted pathway with dimly lit torches that was now half-shattered by the heavy block of ice that fell on top of it.

Aside from the wind sweeping past the walls, there was an eerie silence inside. The inside was carefully crafted. It reminded Ruby a lot of the architecture that was used in the Schnee mansion. She reloaded, the empty shell falling onto the ice floor and echoing along deeply.

"This place sounds huge." Jaune said, slotting his shield on his back and grabbing his sword.

"It does. Let's be careful. I'm going to guess she's not going to be too friendly." Ruby replied, walking further warily with Crescent Rose at the ready.

Ruby still felt impressed by the attention of detail. As they continued, it almost felt like they were walking through the same mansion they had been in just before. Only this one was made of ice and without any other color except a blueish white due to the ice and snow. They had walked past the door where they had stayed in the Schnee mansion and continued onto the main hall.

"Is she even here?" Jaune whispered, looking at Ruby.

Ruby shrugged, checking corners and being alert at every sound. As they got deeper, some furnishings could be found albeit simple compared to the elegance of the original. Then Ruby saw a wooden door and for some reason felt compelled to open it. As she got closer, both Ruby and Jaune could hear a heel click on the ice and they immediately swung around, aiming at the sound.

"Curious. I haven't had company in a _very long_ time." the nearly royal voice sounded. "I do believe I had scared you Atlas types away. Oh well, more examples are apparently needed."

Without being able to get a word in, the walls exploded with large ice shards that the both of them were barely able to dodge. However dodging them once proved fruitless as they continued to sprout quickly. Quickly Ruby swung Crescent Rose down with a fierce slash accompanied by her power, obliterating the encroaching ice-shards. At that, Willow summoned a glyph under her own feet and disappeared from the balcony to right before the pair.

"Intriguing." Willow said, creating two glyphs before them that glowed an icy-blue before letting loose a hailstorm of small nevermores that Ruby had seen before when Qrow had fought Winter at Beacon.

Ruby was quickly overwhelmed by them but Jaune quickly pulled out his shield and stood in front of her, his semblance activated to cause the nevermores to bounce off harmlessly.

Willow smirked, the mirth showing in her eyes as two glyphs appeared behind them accentuated by the growls of two large beowolves. Ruby quickly swung Crescent Rose up, impaling one of them on the blade of Crescent Rose and kicking the other one in the face. She used the moment of the kick to pull Crescent Rose out of the downed summon and decapitate the remaining one. Immediately, they were replaced and Ruby continued to slaughter them without abandon.

Jaune's eyes widened as the glyphs disappeared and a large 'wave' of ice pushed them down the hallway, throwing them out into the ballroom at the end. Quickly the pair recovered standing ready for the next attack.

"I can certainly say you're a grade above what fodder they had tried to send before." Willow said with a small huff. "Such a shame that you decided to come here. I have already said before.."

With a twirl of her hand, a large glyph was summoned between both Ruby and Jaune, immediately encasing their feet in ice and slowly growing. The pair tried to hit the ice and break it but it grew back faster than they could break.

"I will kill anyone that attempts to try and use me for my _curse._ " Willow spat with malice.

"We're not here to fight you! We're here to ask you for help! The world is in danger!" Jaune yelled, now attempting to use his semblance to deflect the magic to no avail.

"Please. Like they've never tried that before." Willow replied.

"It's true! I'm a Maiden too, I know what you're going through!" Ruby quickly replied as she was encased up to her middle now and still struggling to get loose.

"A Maiden? That's the most interesting lie I've ever gotten thus far to convince me." Willow said and her eyes flared in a icy-blue "Show me then. If you were truly cursed as I am, you'd be breaking my magic with ease."

"Magic?! That's what the powers are?!" Ruby questioned incredulously before shaking the thoughts away. "Look, Salem's hunting us Maiden's to take our power and sooner or later she'll be coming for you as well. I'm trying to find the Maiden's so we have a chance of winning against whoever this 'Salem' is."

"I would gladly let her get rid of this curse, so thank you for that information." Willow said and turned around to walk away. "But that still means nothing to me. You're a liar and will die like one."

As the ice climbed closer and closer to their necks, Jaune shouted in a slightly more panicked tone. "Ruby! Time to do something Maiden-y about now!"

Ruby decided it was time to use the desperate measure of manipulation as Jacques had suggested.

"Weiss told me to tell you she's sorry and that she loves you. I'm sure Whitley does too, and Winter!" Ruby shouted.

Immediately, Willow stopped dead in her tracks and the ice stopped it's growth as well.

"What did you say there, girl?" Willow said, her voice taking on a deadly edge.

"Weiss was my partner at Beacon. She's on her way right now with a friend of ours to Vacuo to attempt to figure out why they shut down the CCT and closed the borders." Ruby said, straining to talk due to the sharp ice stabbing into her neck. "I called her last night. She wanted me to say that to you."

There was a moment of silence before Willow turned around, brow furrowed and eyes set to kill as she slowly walked closer.

"How dare you try and use them against me. First your blasted military already took my first girl from me and now this?!" Willow yelled, summoning glyphs around Ruby.

"I'm not using anything! I'm telling you the truth! Please! Listen to me!" Ruby said, trying again to get out of the ice.

"What reason would she have had to go to Beacon anyway? Atlas is her home, you're only spouting more lies." Willow said, but the glyphs hung idly in the air, looming over Ruby.

"I don't know why she came. Maybe she needed to get away from Jacques. I don't know okay! All I know is she is part of team RWBY, _my_ team, and that she was my partner before Beacon fell in the Vale attack. And that now she technically no longer is a Schnee because Jacques disowned her for leaving to help us!" Ruby pleaded. "Please, you have to believe me! We're only here to try and get your help!"

Willow's gaze faltered for a moment before returning to stare angrily into Ruby's eyes. "Weiss being disowned by Jacques is the most preposterous thing I've ever heard after all the careful grooming he did of her to the point where I, the one who loved all my children with all my heart in comparison to that cold man, was the enemy in her eyes. Goodbye."

With a flick of her hand, Willow summoned two large ice spikes that flew at high speed towards Ruby. Ruby's eyes went wide as she saw the projectiles come in and in the back of her mind she could hear Jaune yell her name. There was a ringing and her vision turned white before Ruby closed her eyes.

Seconds passed and Ruby could still move. Better yet, she could use her arms and could feel her hands holding Crescent Rose move again.

 _I'm not dead?_ Ruby asked inwardly, before opening her eyes and saw the heavy ice shards embedded into the wall behind Willow and her icy bonds shattered with Willow on the floor, ice shards surrounding her.

Ruby could feel something new. Something familiar but yet completely foreign. It was as if she could feel the ice surrounding them and the air howling beyond it. She could feel the stone of the mountain and the heat from the torches. In the reflection of Crescent Rose, she could see what had happened. Her eyes had flared in a similar way to how Willow's had done only moments before. For the first time, Ruby felt in control of her power.

Quickly, Ruby looked over her shoulder at Jaune who blinked at her a couple of times before nodding. Ruby smiled a little and nodded back, before looking back at Willow. Willow in the meantime had managed to get up on one knee, looking at the girl. "Alright, so it seems there is some truth to you unless you have a very deceiving semblance. However, as I had said before, I will not be used as a tool for warfare. They might have tricked you, but I will not cooperate."

"I don't want to fight. I want to talk. I want your help." Ruby said, lowering Crescent Rose.

"Did the blast knock you deaf, girl?" Willow started, moving her hands in an upward fashion as multiple glyphs were summoned. "I said, I will not cooperate!"

As the ice shards were summoned, Ruby swung Crescent Rose. The shards exploded as they were summoned and the snow created from it flurried through the air as the swing was accompanied with a strong gust of air, sending Willow sliding even further backwards into the wall.

"How in the world..?" Willow breathed.

"Please." Ruby asked again, pleading genuinely as she let the white flares around her eyes fade out.

Willow mulled over the request, looking at the Maiden before her. As she analyzed the words Ruby had spoken to her, the possibility of truth being in Ruby statements became clearer and clearer to Willow. Slowly, she lowered her hands.

"I concede. If we had fought, this replica of my previous life would definitely have been destroyed." Willow sighed. "And this is the last thing letting me relive my days of happiness. Now talk, what do you want?"

"It's not about what I want. It's about what I'm asking you. I'm asking you to help us save Remnant by defeating Salem." Ruby said and put Crescent Rose away.

"And why couldn't the Atlas military do this themselves? Why do they need me?" Willow said.

Jaune brushed off some of the snow from his armor as he walked to stand beside Ruby. "Because she seems to control the Grimm. All Grimm."

"Oh." Willow said. "Well, that does certainly sound like it would complicate things."

"All I'm asking is for you to come back with us to Vale. It's where we're currently trying to stage the effort to stop her and hopefully end the Grimm."

"Vale? Didn't you say Vale was attacked?" Willow asked.

"It was." Jaune said. "But with the hard work of the people it was rebuilt."

"Also with help from Atlas and the one who coordinated it all was Winter." Ruby added.

".. Winter?" Willow asked quietly. "I see."

"Will you please come with us? I will promise you nobody will try to use your power to harm anyone. I truly believe the only thing that is able to stop Salem is the Maiden's." Ruby said.

Willow looked at the pair before sighing heavily. "I will come."

Ruby immediately grinned widely. "Really?!" she said excitedly.

"Yes, settle down girl. However I do think before we leave introductions are in order. I presume you already know my name, but the name's Willow Schnee. You may call me Willow." Willow said.

"Ruby Rose." Ruby immediately said, trying to temper her excitement.

"Jaune Arc." Jaune said, smiling earnestly.

"My goodness. An Arc? They truly didn't squander their assets to try and get me, a Maiden and an Arc. Either way, there is something we must get before we leave for Vale." she said, summoning a glyph under the three of them.

"Wait, what?" Jaune said before the mansion surged into darkness. In the palm of Willow's hand a flame grew as both Ruby and Jaune retched from the twisting sensation of the teleportation. Willow gave them odd looks.

"Ah. I should have probably said. The first time tends to make one quite queasy. Apologies." Willow said before moving forward.

Jaune swallowed down the vomit, shuddering at the feeling.

"Where are we?" he quickly asked.

"We are underneath Atlas Academy. Deep underneath." Willow said and kept on walking.

Ruby felt her power well and ignited a flame in the palm of her hand as well, staring at it in disbelief for a moment before tapping Jaune on the shoulder with a giddy smile.

"Holy shit!" she whispered to him, manipulating the flame to become larger and smaller at will.

"Are you going to play with your magic all day or are the both of you following? I thought the world was ending." Willow said, an almost familiar tone of annoyance in her voice. It seemed to be a Schnee family trait.

"Ah, yes! Sorry!" Ruby said before grabbing Jaune's hand with her non-burning hand and running after Willow.

"So.. what is this place?" Jaune asked, looking around. It seemed familiar and after a few seconds he could place it. "Wait.. Beacon had a place similar to this underneath the school."

"That could be correct. All I know is that nobody knows I've been down here for the door only I can open." Willow said as they came upon a fountain. With a touch of her hand, she froze the fountain and water formed ice blocks that fell into place not unlike a set of stairs "Careful, it's still ice, so watch your feet."

Slowly they descended down the steps. "How did you know this was here?" Ruby asked, carefully holding onto the walls as to not slip.

"I was shown when I gained these powers. A long time ago." Willow replied. "By a man named Ozpin."

"Excuse me, did you just say Ozpin?" Jaune quickly asked.

"I did."

"Ozpin was our headmaster at Beacon." Ruby said.

"Curious. It seems he might have some answers for you then, considering you didn't know what you were doing with your powers." Willow mused before walking down the final steps, entering a room that seemed to be snowing deep inside. A small pond, surrounded by frozen trees could be seen and Willow breathed in deep as she stepped forward. As she let out the breath, the snow stopped, hanging still in the air. It seemed as if a living snapshot of a winter was made.

"What is this place?" Jaune questioned out loud, looking around at the snow.

Carefully, Willow touched the pond. The water rippled before freezing from the outside in before culminating and growing in the middle. As it coalesced, a pedestal began to take shape and a staff formed. It looked like a twisted tree branch made of shards of ice. Gently, Willow took it and walked off the pond, tapping the pond again with the staff to return it to its liquid form.

"What is that?" Ruby asked.

"This is the relic given to Atlas to guard. And since the world is at stake, we might want to use it." Willow said. "Now, I do believe it's high time to get to Vale, isn't it?"

With a double tap of the staff on the ground, both Ruby and Jaune felt the world surge as they were teleported once again.


End file.
